


Let Me Sing You a Song

by SpiffyBeluga



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Drama, Future Fic, Gen, Heart Break, M/M, Miscommunication, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rei messed up, Rock Star AU, break ups, follows the show to an extent, haru is a loving protective friend, original lyrics, takes place after college stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 36,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiffyBeluga/pseuds/SpiffyBeluga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That conversation has been playing again and again in Rei's head for two years now. Its been that long since he and his long time best friend and little time boyfriend, Hazuki Nagisa, split up. One afternoon while shopping, Rei discovers that Nagisa has become a popular new singer and wants to repatch their relationship. However, Rei is unaware of the damage he has done not only to Nagisa, but to everyone else as well.</p>
<p>Rock star AU (or something). More characters to come. Ratings are subject to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Track 1: Two years later

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say that this story has been in my mind for months now and I just really wanted to get it out there. I've edited it to the best of my ability, so if there are any mistakes, I apologize. I hope you enjoy this!

**Track 1: Two Years Later**

 

_"I think we need a break."_

_"Wait…what?"_

_"I think we should…end our relationship...is what I'm saying."_

_"Wha- Was it something I did? I'm sorry! I-I-"_

_"No. You're perfect. Something just doesn't feel right…"_

_"…."_

_"I'm sorry."_

 

That conversation has been replaying itself in Rei's head for the past two years now. Its been that long since he and his long time best friend and little time boyfriend, Hazuki Nagisa, split up. Ever since then, Rei lost all contact with him as well as his former senpais, Makoto and Haru. Rei went off to a university in Tokyo to study there and has remained there for most of the time. He hasn't gone back to Iwatobi much at all. Only to see his parents once in a while and to occasionally meet up with Gou and Rin, if he was back from Austrailia. Gou would try to get Rei to talk about why he broke up with Nagisa in hopes to know more, maybe even get them back together, but he would not budge. The two Matsuokas never mentioned anything to Rei about what Nagisa was doing or how he was. So, the now graduated college student knew nothing of the blonde haired boy after what happened between them. 

Recently, Rei had overcome his obstacles in life and is free to do as he pleases. Yet, he can't help but feel empty and alone. He's tried to visit Gou and Rin more, but he misses everyone else. He misses his team. He misses Nagisa. But after not speaking to them for a solid two years, he was wary on how contacting them would end up. Gou insists that he at least contacts Haru and Makoto, but Rei would chicken out last minute each time he attempted. So for now he, must carry on with his life and make the best of it.

\----------------------------------------

 

It was a sunday afternoon when Rei was out shopping around in the busy area of Tokyo. He usually journeyed out to gather food for the week and any other things he may have needed. He observed the people on the street, like he usually would, when he would go shopping. He watched some of the local high schoolers running around, going to various stores to hang out and shop. He watched the tourists, whom traveled to Tokyo, and keep an eye on how they would be, in case they needed help. He'd watch the couples shopping and eating at cute cafes together and thought about how fun that could be to do that again. But he didn't want to go alone. He didn't feel comfortable going on his own. 

While he was walking past one of the stores, he heard music blaring out into the streets. He knew that store usually blasted the latest hits in Japan, so Rei was used to it. But this time is was different. It sounded familiar too him. Like he knew the voice in the song. He looked towards the store to see hordes of fan girls overflowing the store, squealing about the artist. Rei walked closer, curious and hoping to confirm whom the artist was, and couldn't help but listen in on the girls freaking out in excitement.

"Oh my gosh! He's touring!" One girl squealed.

"I know right? I hope tickets aren't sold out!" Her friend commented back.

"He's so cute! This song has to be my favorite!" A young girl by Rei's right sighed.

"Same. Nagisa-kun is so amazing!" And thats when his brain stopped and eyes grew wide. Nagisa? His Nagisa, er, ex Nagisa? He now needed to know if this was the same Nagisa he knew. He politely pushed by the girls into the shop to see if he can find answers, whether it came from merchandise or cds. But the tv playing music videos in the store already answered his question.

There, on the screen, was the one and only Hazuki Nagisa in a music video, singing his own songs. Rei's jaw practically dropped to the ground not only to the fact that his old friend was a famous singer now, but to how much more older he looked. The blonde lost more of the baby fat he once had on his face, but he still had enough to keep that youthful look to him. Everything else to his face stayed just as beautiful as Rei remembered, especially his eyes. He seemed a bit taller, but Rei wasn't certain. His blonde locks remained as shining and bouncy as before. When his hair was blowing in the wind in the video, Rei noticed that he had pierced his ears just on his lobes. He was still slender, yet built, and still managed to take Rei's breathe away. Nagisa looked a lot more mature, but still adorable at the same time. Rei would've awed the screen all day if the store clerk didn't interrupt.

"Can I help you find anything today, Sir?" She question. Fumbling over his embarrassed words, Rei tried to convey what he wanted. Luckily, the clerk understood and giggled a bit at his struggle. 

"I take it you are a big fan of Nagisa-kun?" 

"I- uh, I actually was very curious about him is all. You wouldn't happen to sell his cd here, would you?"

"Yes, we have them over here in this section." As Rei approached the section, the clerk followed and carried the conversation on with him. "It's funny. He used to be a classmate of mine back in high school. He was very loud, but very cheerful and talented in swimming- Wait!" and the clerk inched closer as if to get a better look at Rei's nervously sweaty face. She gasped as if she had made a new discovery.

"You were friends with him, right? I think I remember you too!" Rei jumped and began to get frantic. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the store.

"Hahaha-you-you must be mistaken! I was only just uh-" But it was too late.

"No, I know you. You're Ryugazaki-kun! You used to interrupt the class and-"

"C-Can I just buy the cd please?!" He tried his best not to yell at the former classmate, but he really didn't want her to talk about the old times and further embarrass himself.

"Sure sure. Here, since I know you I'll give you a discount on it!"

"Oh, thank you." He managed to purchased the cd and swiftly made his way out of the store when he decided it was time to go home. The whole way back, Rei was all in a blur thinking about all he learned about how Nagisa was doing, or what he was doing. He couldn't believe it really. Eventually, he returned home, exhausted from his experience from the day. His mind was non-stop on Nagisa as started to put things away. Rei thought maybe he should try to call the blonde again or get in contact somehow. That maybe he should try and patch things up for real. But he feared of confronting his former boyfriend, after all the tears he had shed the last time they saw each other. All these thoughts began to hurt his head, so after putting away groceries, he decided to put the tv on for a bit in an attempt to relax himself. However, he didn't know what he expected watching tv on a Sunday. Sundays usually had nothing on every channel. He clicked his way throughout the channels trying to find something to occupy his mind. 

' _Food network, animal show, game show, Nagisa,-Wait._ ' Rei clicked back to the last channel and before his very eyes he watched a much older Nagisa, on tv moving around and talking in his animated manner to the host and audience of the talk show.

"It's great to have you on the show today, Hazuki-kun!" The hostess smiled to the blonde next to her.

"Hehe, it's great to be on the show, Hiro-chan!" He responded with a grin.

"This is your first cd you put out, is that right?"

"Yep. First one!"

"And already you have fans globally! How amazing is that?"

"Honestly, I never expected it to be global. I didn't expect much at all, so it's a bit overwhelming and I can't thank the fans enough. Hehe, but that means I get to travel the world and meet everyone and see the sights! It's exciting!" As crowd cheered for him on the set, Rei kept his eyes on the boy on the flat screen before him. He couldn't believe it at all. He was pretty happy for him, but a little bitter that not even Gou told him about this. This is kind of a big deal. He continued to watch the interview unfold when they began to ask some personal things with songs and his life.

"So tell us, do you have anyone special in your life?" The hostess asked with a wink to Nagisa. Rei's chest started to get tight, fearing for the answer.

"Nope! Just me. Haha!" Rei sighed a breathe of relief hearing that. He realized it was kind of selfish to think that way, also not beautiful, but he wouldn't know what to do or how he'd react if Nagisa had feelings for someone else now. However, Rei was the one who broke his heart, so maybe he doesn't even deserve Nagisa.

"Judging by your songs, you've been in a relationship before am I right?" Nagisa froze on the screen and said nothing, so the hostess continued. "I mean, listening to your new hit single, I assume it's about-"

"Oh, Wait! I have a gift for you, Hiro-chan! Uh, you should cut to commercial so I can grab it! It's a special surprise!" Nagisa stood ready to bolt off stage. Rei was surprised of the way the blonde acted, but then again, Nagisa was always one to never really face problems head on. At least, he didn't do so unless Rei was around. He was getting better when he was in his third year of high school and throughout the first two years of college, so this baffled Rei.

"Huh? Oh, well sure thing! We'll be right back after these commercials!" And then the screen switched to a soap commercial Rei has seen over a hundred times. After watching all he did of the program, a sting of guilt occurred inside him. The only relationship he knew Nagisa was in was the relationship with him. And his songs. They couldn't be about…

Rei gathered his laptop and the cd case to hear for himself the songs Nagisa has made. Once the cd case was unwrapped and opened in his hands, he placed the cd into the drive attached to his laptop. Moments later, the songs appeared. He observed the cd case to find out what his hit single was and it appeared to be track 5 on the cd tittled "Still on my Mind". He then pressed play and listened closley.

The music started off very nice and really reminded him of Nagisa; Very rhythmic and contained an interesting array of instruments. The beat was steady, slightly upbeat, but steady. Then the lyrics began.

 

_I fell in love, it was like a spell_

_but I never expected that would've failed_

_didn't you see, as you held me_

_I thought it was meant to be_

 

He was surprised at how beautiful Nagisa's voice was. They have sung karaoke before and he was very good at the time, but Nagisa has gotten older and his singing voice had grown.

 

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

Rei felt his chest ache a bit after those words, but continued to take in the song word for word.

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in bed_

 

Rei's heart started beating faster and he was getting chills.

 

_Did you know, that I was alone_

_left to fend my feelings on my own_

_things that were there, are now gone_

_I always questioned where I went wrong_

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

Now guilt was eating Rei as well as confusion. ' _He was alone?_ ' he pondered over. He assumed that Haru or Makoto or his family at the very least would be there for him. He was beginning to be a bit concerned as to how this break up took a toll on Nagisa personally. But he focused on the rest of the song for now.

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

 

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in bed_

_I can't sleep_

_I'm so weak_

_I can't get you out of my head_

_I just want to go to bed_

_I'd hide away, until everything was clear_

_I was ready to disappear_

_but you know what, I finally learned_

_how to be happy without you in my world_

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in bed_

 

And then the song faded out as it came to an end. Rei was at a loss for words. He had so many emotions running through him that he didn't know how he felt about it. So he played the song again. And again. And again until he finally had an idea on how to make things right, hopefully.

\-----------------------

 

" _Hello?_ " answered the phone. 

"Gou-san, this is Rei."

" _Oh! Rei-kun! I haven't heard from you in a while! How have you been?_ " Gou sounded very excited to hear from her former schoolmate/ swim team member. It has been a while since Rei had spoken to Gou.

"A- A little out of it. So, I noticed Nagisa-kun is now a famous singer?" And the other line went quiet. "Gou-san?" Then a sigh was heard.

" _I guess there is no hiding this now. I should've known you'd find out soon._ "

"Find out? Why didn't you or Rin-san tell me in the first place?" Rei felt betrayed knowing now that everyone knew Nagisa was this famous singer and intentionally hid it from him. How could they have done that?

" _Look, I was only listening to what Haruka-senpai asked me to do._ " Rei gasped lightly hearing the last statement. Haruka asked this?

"….He directly told you not to tell me?" He questioned feeling very hurt, but trying not to show it.

" _Rei-kun, it's only fair. You made sure none of us told Nagisa-kun about you and your life._ " She had a point.

"Well, I found this out the other day due to these fangirls and I ended up buying his cd and I just…." Gou listened patiently over the phone, but then given the chance spoke up again.

" _How do you feel about Nagisa-kun?_ " That cut Rei off guard, therefore he couldn't answer. " _The thing is, Nagisa-kun was very hurt by what you did to him-_ "

"A break up shouldn't have hurt that much." Rei cut her off harshly. He knew he hurt Nagisa, he just didn't want everyone else telling him that as well.

" _Rei-kun! Listen to me, Nagisa-kun has been struggling over the last two years and is finally happy and enjoying himself._ " Rei registered the one part in his head.

"Wait, struggling with what?" He heard Gou cuss on the other end.

" _I can't say no more._ "

"Gou-san-"

" _Don't you 'Gou-san!' me! I'm just keeping my word._ "

"Gou-san, I-I want to see him!" Rei shouted quick into the phone. 

" _Huh?_ " She sounded confused, most likely because she didn't catch the words racing out of his mouth.

"I want to see Nagisa-kun." Rei seemed a tad embarrassed about what he said, but he meant it.

" _Thats kind of hard, you know. He's about to go on a tour now and-_ "

"What's his concert schedule? We could attend one of the concerts and maybe try to talk to him. You can get backstage passes, right? Singers do that sort of thing for friends and family, right?" Gou sighed on the other line.

" _I'll see what I can do. You're lucky I'm such a nice friend. But, if he refuses to talk to you, that's all I can do._ " Rei sighed thankfully hearing Gou's response.

"Thank you Gou-san."

\----------------------------------

 

It was about a week later and Gou managed to get tickets at Nagisa's concert in Chiba. It was his first concert to kick off his tour and close enough to Tokyo. Gou was able to not only get back stage passes for herself and Rei, but a hotel to stay the night as well. Rei could've thanked Gou enough, but before they could confront Nagisa, the concert was the first thing. Nagisa was the opening show; Following after was the talented Kisumi, of which Rei was wondering if it was Haru and Makoto's old middle school friend he had once heard about. As they finally entered the stadium, Gou and Rei took their seats, which were not too far away from the stage. Soon enough, the crowd began to roar when the lights dimmed down. Then, the spot light was on Nagisa. He wore a clean white dress shirt under a brown leather vest with black jeans and hot pink converse shoes. He wore a single, black, finger-less glove on one hand and his hair was flowing in more places than usually. But his smile was brighter than ever and as pure as Rei remembered.

"Good evening, Chiba!" He yelled and the room amplified.

He giggled a little at the response he received. "Wow! I didn't expect a response like that! You guys are amazing! I expect you know who I am, so lets get this party started, yeah?" And again the room screamed. Soon then, the music began and Nagisa was singing and performing all over the stage. Rei observed his actions the entire time; Nagisa's facial expressions, his movements, and his tone. Overall, he seemed very happy from what Rei could tell. It was like watching him at swim practice almost. He was bubbly and sweet, making the sight refreshing for Rei. He didn't realize how badly he missed it all until now. 

Nagisa already has gone through a good amount of songs as the crowd continues to cheer him on.

"Haha- you guys are party animals, huh? You all are awesome people and I couldn't have been happier in my life! For my next-" as he looked into the crowd, his expression dropped. He saw something and not only that, but it was in Rei's direction. Rei was sure Nagisa spotted him out in the crowd and now time was frozen in place. The crowd was beginning to be restless, but Nagisa didn't move a muscle. His eyes stayed glued on to Rei's eyes. Rei noted Nagisa was breathing deeply as though trying to calm himself down and his eyes seemed to dilate. Was he excited? 

He noticed the crowd beginning to groan and shout, bringing Nagisa back to reality. He took a shakey breathe before he spoke. "Uh, hahaha sorry there. I guess I spaced out! Haha. Ummm, this is, uh, the last song for me tonight. I hope you've enjoyed the show so far and are prepared for the great Kisumi!" And the crowd rejoiced once again as the music started and suddenly his whole expression made a 180. He became serious with his eyes narrowing filling with pain. It took a moment for Rei to realize that it was his hit single he was about to sing. The one Rei listened to a week ago. Once the instrumental opening the song was coming to an end, Nagisa started to sing.

 

_I fell in love, it was like a spell_

_but I never expected that would've failed_

_didn't you see, as you held me_

_I thought it was meant to be_

 

Rei watched every move Nagisa made, every expression he showed, because he knew that he wasn't singing to the crowd. He was talking to Rei. 

 

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

His breathing was noticeably heavy, but that didn't stop him from vocalizing his inner feelings. His expression grew dark and Nagisa began to throw his arms to further express his emotions. It seemed he was directing the attention to Rei. 

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in be_

 

Nagisa then stepped back a bit, his body vibrating like he was riding a rollar coaster to its steepest point. He lowered his head down in agony. Rei feared he may break on stage, but he continued on. 

 

_Did you know, that I was alone_

_left to fend my feelings on my own_

_things that were there, are now gone_

_I always questioned where I went wrong_

 

He looked back up with my most contorted face of anger Rei has ever seen. Their eyes locked again. He could practically sense the frustration and sorrow projecting from the blonde.

 

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

Then he had tears forming in the corner of his eyes, Rei noticed. He sounded out of breath as he sung his hit single, but carried on with so much power behind him.

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in bed_

_I can't sleep_

_I'm so weak_

_I can't get you out of my head_

_I just want to go to bed_

 

During the music break, Nagisa broke out into some heavy movement that went with the beat of the song. He backed away again, rubbing his face aggressively and pacing. Eventually, he came back to the audience's view, with a little more composure and continued on with the lyrics.

 

_I'd hide away, until everything was clear_

_I was ready to disappear_

_but you know what, I finally learned_

_how to be happy without you in my world_

_But you were gone as the trains took off_

_I could hear your voice, I could feel your touch_

_but I looked around, only saw snow on the ground_

_and realized that you were truly gone_

 

 Nagisa started to get shakey as he was getting to the final chorus.

 

_You were the one_

_at least I thought_

_after all we've done_

_it couldn't be helped_

_didn't you see my tears_

_I wanted to disappear_

_I'm well over it now_

_but you're still on my mind somehow_

_Get out of my head_

_I just want to stay in bed_

 

He appeared to be calming down a bit as the song was ending, but out of no where was hiding his face only to abruptly leave the stage with no last words. However, before he left as quickly as he did, Rei caught a glimpse of the tears falling from his tightly clenched eyes. It pained him to watch more so because he now knew for sure that he probably was the cause of those tears. Before thinking any deeper, he was shaken from his inner struggle by the red head now standing next to him.

"Rei-kun, nows our chance." Gou whispered to him.

"Are you sure, Gou-san?" After what he witnessed on stage, he had a bad feeling about this now. He wanted so badly to give up, like he always did before.

"Getting those backstage passes wasn't easy you know!" Gou stressed her annoyance, but noticed how Rei was getting cold feet just from his solum expression he held. "But joking aside, I feel you should talk to him so he understands what happened between you." Rei thought on those words for a moment and nodded in agreement. He couldn't back down now. Not again. He knew this has to be done.

The two made their way through the bustling crowd, managing to reach to the backstage area with no issue. A guard was present at the entrance of the area, so Rei and Gou showed the guard their passes and were aloud in. Walking down the place, Rei took the time to take in the scene around him since he has never seen an environment quite like this. It wasn't that tidy at all, which irked him, and not fancy as he expected it to be. Gou kept dragging him so they could get a move on to find Nagisa's dressing room, but a familiar voice spoke, stopping them in their tracks.

"Gou-chan? Rei?! What are you doing back here?!" They turned to see none other than their old swim team captain, Makoto.

"Makoto-senpai?!" Both surprised to see him backstage too.

"Did you go to the concert too?" Gou question confused, but Makoto shook his head.

"Not really. I work with Nagisa on the side lines." He then turned his attention to Rei with a somber look.

"Rei, why are you here?" Rei didn't answer right away. His former captain's voice, from what he remembered being soft and lovable, was cold and harsh. Did he anger Makoto as well? He understands that he hasn't talked to him or Haru in a long while, but did that really upset him that much? He couldn't find the right words. He was getting nervous.

"I....I wanted to see Nagisa-kun. G-Gou-san helped me out and-"

"Gou, you know better! I don't think this was a good idea!" Makoto freaked at the younger Matsuoka.

"What? Why not? They need to make up sometime and Nagisa-kun has always wanted to know-" Gou defended only to be cut off by Makoto.

"Not now though! He's too-"

"Makoto!" Yelled a far off voice. Foot steps hurdled closer and closer to reveal that the voice belonged to none other than Haru.

"Makoto! Come quick! Nagisa-" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Rei. But his sight wasn't joy or surprise, it was filled with rage.

"Haru! What's wrong with Nagisa?" Makoto tried to snap him out of it. Luckily, it worked and his focus was now on Makoto.

"He's having a panic attack. A bad one. And I think I know why now." Everyone moved their focus to what Haru was glaring at. Rei.

"What? Me? How could I have caused-"

"Get out." Haru interrupted sternly.

"Haru." Makoto tried to calm him down and make light of the situation as usual.

"I said get out, Rei!" He yelled back, grabbing Makoto in the process and darting off. Rei was highly annoyed now at how he was just treated and decided followed after them despite all Gou's protests. He ran down backstage dodging people that were in the way, but halted when he saw the sight before him.

Nagisa was seated in the chair off to the side, hands on his head, back bent down and breathing very raspy and jittery. Haru was rubbing his back, murmuring softly as Makoto frantically searched in a bag for something. 

"Makoto-"

"I know Haru! I know! I'm trying to find it!" Then Haru spotted Rei, watching them 10 feet away, and quickly snapped at him again.

"I SAID GET OUT!" 

Rei became furious now and yelled back. "Why?! Why do I have to go?!" 

"BECAUSE YOU DO!" Haru quickly retorted.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE! I CAME HERE TO SEE NAGISA-KUN!" Rei fought back now infuriated at Haru.

"HE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE YOU!"

"Nagisa?" Makoto interrupted worriedly, making the other two stop to look at Nagisa. He was now chest-against-knees sitting with his hands digging deeply into his scalp and shaking as if it were a cold winters day. He was now gasping his breaths.

"Nagisa-kun-" Rei tried to talk to him, but the blonde bolted up from the chair with such speed and sprinted off only to stop a few feet away to collapse and empty is stomach all over the floor. Before anyone could reach out to him, he was already curled up on the floor, inches away from his own mess, but covered in tears running down his face. Haru was quick to pick Nagisa up bridal style and take him into another room without saying a word or sparing a glance anywhere else.

Once the scene was cleared, Makoto groaned and rubbed his temple. "I guess I'll get security and let them know of the mess." He started to walk off when a hand grabbed onto his wrist. He turned to see that it was Rei gripping onto him.

"Makoto-senpai….please. Tell what is going on with Nagisa-kun. I don't understand what exactly is going on and I'm concerned..." Makoto's faced seemed conflicted for a moment, but then lightened up.

"Let me get someone to clean the mess and we can sit to talk, okay?" It took about ten minutes, but Makoto finally got someone to clean the accident on the floor. Now, the two sat off to the side, close to the exit doors, in silence. Rei decided to speak first.

"So...how's he been?" There wasn't a response at first, but Makoto took a deep breathe and turned to face Rei.

"Rei..." He looked at him with a serious face like he was ready to scold him. "Do you know how badly you hurt Nagisa?"

Rei's face twisted in confusion. "No. Obviously I don't. I mean, I broke up with him two years ago, but how could that-"

"Did you ever tell him why? Why exactly you broke up with him?" Rei silenced himself. He thought for a moment to try and remember his exact words.

"I...." But Makoto didn't give him a chance to speak.

"And you cut off all connection to him, didn't you?" Rei kept his mouth shut. "What was the purpose behind that? Were you sick of him? Was he just some 'fling' to you?"

"Wha- No! No! He wasn't!" Rei cried out.

"Then why, Rei? He tried reaching out to you, you know. He tried to call you, he tried texting you, he tried everything he could before he crumbled! All because he blamed himself! All because he didn't know why! He loved you more than anything in this world and you just- you just-" Makoto was struggling to find the right thing to say without taking out too much anger on the blue haired man. Rei was taken back by all this. He didn't realize Nagisa would go through all that because he didn't explain himself. Or well, because he couldn't explain himself. He thought he would just forget about him and move on with his life, but clearly he was wrong. He snapped away from his thoughts, hearing Makoto continue on and raising his voice to him. 

"How could you do that to him? To us!? Do you want to know how badly you hurt him, Rei? Do you? He didn't eat much for a good two months after the break up! His grades became poor while he was still in school! And worse his-" Makoto stopped himself abruptly before he ranted on.

"Well, if you want to learn more, I think it's only right if Nagisa told you himself." He sighed out in exhaustion after almost exploding his feelings at Rei, though he practically deserved it. The brunette looked away defeated and Rei realized now that he not only did he hurt Nagisa, but he hurt Makoto and Haru in the process as well. He kept distance from them because he assumed after breaking up with Nagisa, they would want to forget about him too. Rei can't believe how stupid and selfish his decisions ended up being as he cussed at himself internally.

"Makoto-senpai...I….I didn't know. I never thought-"

"That's right. You didn't think!" The two whipped their heads around to see Haru standing behind them, still angry of course.

"Haru-" Makoto was about to speak, but was cut off by said person.

"And what did you think you would accomplish coming back?" Haru glared down, but Rei just lowered his head away in shame.

"I wanted....I wanted to see how Nagisa-kun was. Maybe become friends again... Or...." Rei was starting to feel heat of embarrassment creep up to his cheeks. Was it embarrassment? 

"Bullshit." Haru spat out.

"Haru!" Makoto was not liking the words coming from Haru's mouth, but at the moment Haru honestly didn't care.

"How is that so?" Rei stood up to face the rather shorter man challenging him. He was getting fed up with his former senpai's rather rude attitude with him. The two crept closer looking like they were about to brawl.

" _You_ broke up with him. _You_ dropped connection with him. It's funny how you used to always face your problems head first, but when it came to this you were the one to run away from it." Haru grabbed Rei's shirt as if getting ready to punch him. "You ignored and hid from him like a coward. And you ignored us too! We were your friends and you ditched us! And now you want to come back as if nothing happened? Why would you even leave in the first place then!? You always talk about logical things, but this was the least logical thing I've ever heard from you!" 

"Haru! Calm down! Don't be violent here!" Makoto grabbed onto Haru and Rei's shoulders in hopes to split the two up. Haru was still for a moment, but then released his grip on Rei. Once Rei was free, he backed up away from Haru, just in case. The three stood there in with only the far sounds of the concert blaring through the walls.

"Why did you come here anyway, Haru?" Makoto asked, changing the subject.

Haru to look over to Makoto a bit more calm. "I wanted to let you know Nagisa is okay now. He's fast asleep in his dressing room."

"Thank goodness. I was worried when he threw up back there." Sighed a now relieved Makoto.

"He must've been holding in his anxiety back as much as he could. I'm sure he spotted Rei sometime during the concert and freaked." Haru explained. 

' _So that's why he looked the way he did._ ' Rei recalled when their eyes met and how Nagisa froze on stage breathing very hard and his eyes had looked stimulated. But It wasn't excitement in his eyes, it was fear. Fear Rei caused.

"I'm so sorry!" Rei bowed in apology grabbing the attention of the two older men. "I honestly didn't mean to hurt Nagisa-kun in the slightest. I never wanted to destroy what we had. I admit, I was selfish and didn't think things through enough, but I know now that all I want to do is make up everything to him and to you two as well. I- I want to fix everything I single handedly destroyed between all of us. I've been a horrible friend and person in general. I deeply request to try and earn your forgiveness as well as your friendship back." The air became thick. Rei remained in his bowed position until he heard one of them respond.

"Rei, are you sure you want to try and do that? I mean, you hurt us all as a whole." Makoto began.

"And some might not even forgive you again." Haru added with another piercing glare.

Rei sighed. "I know. I'm not expecting your forgiveness instantly. Maybe I won't even get it back, I don't know. But I'm willing to take a lot of time, patience, and whatever it takes to mend our friendship. I've missed having you guys as friends and I regret every day that went by when I didn't talk to you or keep in contact."

"Why didn't you even bother trying then to talk to us?" Haru questioned.

"I guess…" Now Rei felt embarrassed. Thinking back to his reasonings, it sounds a tad silly to him. "...I felt ashamed. I felt as though you two would never want to talk to me and if you did, you'd tell me that our friendship was over after breaking up with Nagisa-kun." He shifted his gaze to Haru.

"You were right, Haruka-senpai. I was a coward. I feared of this, hid from it all, and yet made everything worse. But, I know now I want to make things better. Please. Just please…" He took a deep breathe since he was getting a bit emotional. "Give me another chance?"  Rei looked at them hoping for the best, but fearing for the worst.

"Well," Makoto started off. "…I'm willing to give you a chance. Haru, what do you think?" He waited for Haru's response. 

He glanced at Rei for a brief moment and then scuffed. "You do what you want..." Rei smiled for a moment, but Haru continued. "BUT, if you hurt Nagisa again, I will never forgive you." He sternly threatened making Rei gulp in fear. But he nodded and agreed.

"So...What now?" Asked Makoto, unsure of how to end the conversation. 

"I don't think it's a good idea to see Nagisa tonight. He needs to sleep and I don't want him freaking out again." Haru added.

"What's his schedule like? And your's too? I feel it's best if you two are there as well." Rei mentioned.

"Same as his schedule." Haru answered. 

"We work as his assistants. So when he works, we work." Makoto clarified.

"How long will you be in here in Chiba for? I can travel too if need be." Rei spoke determined.

"For the next 2 days, but then we go to Niigata, Ishikawa, and eventually go all over Japan making our way back to Tokyo before going out of the country." Makoto informed him.  

"Are you willing to travel all that for Nagisa?" Haru questioned. Rei looked at him determined more than anything.

"I'm sure I'd travel far more for him." Rei didn't realize how romantic that sounded and blushed a little.

"Then I guess we'll see how Nagisa feels about this." Makoto decided and they all agreed. Rei then suddenly remembered someone he had left behind.

"Oh! Gou-san! I forgot about her-!" Rei freaked out knowing she is not going to be pleased with him leaving her like he did.

"She's fine. She came into the room when I was with Nagisa. She should be watching over him now." Haru informed, relieving Rei that she didn't leave him behind or got lost.

"Lets go and get her, shall we?" Makoto suggested and they all headed to Nagisa's dressing room. They knocked a couple times, to let Gou know they were coming in, and opened it to the red-haired girl sitting on the couch running her hand through the blonde curls on her lap. And the blonde curls, belonging to Nagisa, were fast asleep on the head red's lap clinging to her skirt.

"So, did you all have a 'heart warming' make up season?" Gou teased, but got no response towards that.

"How's he been, Gou-chan?" Asked Makoto, breaking the awkwardness when they walked into the room.

"Pretty well. He's been talking in his sleep, but I don't think it's a bad dream. He mumbled something about penguins in tuxedos..."

"I'm sure that's a good thing for him." chuckled Makoto. Haru stayed silent as he kept an eye on Rei, who stared at Nagisa's sleeping form on the couch. He never realized how much he missed his sleeping face or how angelic he seemed while sleeping. Gou noticed Rei spacing out, so she decided to mess with him to snap him out if it.

"You ditched me, by the way." she spoke annoyed, but in a playful manner. Rei felt guilty and apologized while she continued on. "Seriously, someone could've come up to me and snatched me away!"

"Gou-san, you're 22 now." mumbled Rei.

"You'd better not be calling me old. And besides, I'm still cute AND young as hell!" They all broke out into a light laughter at Gou's remark, but in doing so caused Nagisa to stir in his sleep. They quickly hushed.

"Guess you two should get going." Makoto suggested. Gou looked up at Rei a little upset that they'd have to leave so soon. Just then, Rei almost forgot to arrange a date to see his former teammates.

"Oh, When can I stop by to see you guys?" Rei asked.

"How about tomorrow at noon? We could go to lunch at the restaurant in the hotel we are at. I hear they have great food there." Makoto suggested.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." Rei agreed.

"Oh! Here is the address!" Makoto quickly handed Rei a paper with the address and his number on there. "Text me if you get lost." He smiled.

"Thank you, Makoto-senpai, Haruka-senpai. I'll see you tomorrow." As Rei said his goodbyes, Haru turned his head away with no words. Rei didn't really expect a response anyway.

"Gou-san, lets go." Gou nodded and tried to pry Nagisa off as best she could without waking him. He whined a little, making Rei lighten his gaze at him and chuckle softly. They were making their way to the exit when they heard a small voice mumble out.

"Rei...-chan..." The two turned around to find Nagisa talking in his sleep again. Though saying Rei's name in his sleep through in him off guard, it made his heart thump as well. He didn't think that the blonde could still do that to him. Smiling at the nostalgia he felt brought back old feelings he shoved away.

"I'll see you tomorrow as well,...Nagisa-kun." He murmured sweetly before he and Gou finally took their leave out of the room. Moments later, Nagisa opened his eyes wearily and lifted his head up in confusion.

"Oh, Nagisa! We didn't wake you, did we?" Makoto asked concerned. Nagisa shook his head in response. 

"I....I thought I heard..." He stopped himself, worried he might sound dumb with what he was about say.

"You should rest up, Nagisa." His attention then went to the source of the voice.

"Haru-chan?" 

"You're going to have a big day tomorrow."

 

**End of Track 1**


	2. Track 2- Now is Your Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nagisa-kun..." He started. No response was heard, so he continued on. "It's me, Rei. I was hoping to talk to you since-" and Rei stopped as his nerves were making him quiver. He didn't exactly know what to say. He worked his speech all last night, yet he was frozen and drawing a blank on how to approach this matter. He tried to think of all he has done, all he put everyone through. Maybe it would burst into something inspirational.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the delay. I recently had computer issues (my charger is destroyed sort of). Plus, I'm very self conscious of my grammar and writing that I'm editing my stuff at least 15 times. No lie. But finally I have something! Enjoy!

**Track 2- Now is Your Chance**

 

Rei was a wreck. Right when he and Gou returned to the hotel they were staying at in Chiba, he instantly grabbed his laptop. He had brought it along just in case and lucky for him he could use it to research the hotel Makoto and the others were staying at. He mapped out the address serval times to make sure he wouldn't get lost and or be late getting there. He also wrote down words and phrases he wanted to say to the three, but mostly to Nagisa. He practiced over and over trying to memorize each beautiful sentence he constructed, but then would edit his notes because it wasn't beautiful enough. He even had Gou look over his notes before she convinced him to go to get some sleep. The attempt at sleeping proved to be very useless though. Rei was spacing out at the ceiling for hours with images of the distress Nagisa had shown that night. The sight of such an expression was craved into Rei's brain and only reminded him of the issues he may come across when he comes face to face to the one person he hurt.

When morning came, Rei woke up extra early, despite his lack of sleep. He washed up and pick out his clothes for the day to make sure everything was right. Everything had to be perfect. Rei would've chuckled at how this was like preparing for a first date, but he was too nervous to even joke about it. This outing was a "make it or break it" situation for him. It was his only chance to see if Nagisa would allow him to come back into his life. Judging how last night went, he wasn't so sure anymore. He is hoping with the help from Haru and Makoto, things may be okay, but he had to get on their good side as well. All pressure was on Rei.

Gou found it amusing to watch him prepare himself. He tried to slip on some socks, that ended up being miss-matched, while trying to keep his hair in one place at the same time.

"Rei-kun, take a breather!" Gou sighed out.

"I can' t exactly do that or I may loose track of time and end up late and I'm sure that would leave a very bad impression-" Rei's words ran a mile a minute.

"You have 3 hours! You're not going into an job interview, you know."

"But I need to prove that I'm serious in what I'm doing. I- I need to show them all-" and Gou swiftly walked up to Rei, placing her index finer right in between the man's lips. 

"Stop talking and stop thinking. Here." she handed him one of the other socks from his miss-matched pair on his feet. Rei accepted the sock sheepishly and began to replace the sock. Gou fussed over his hair for the time being.

"I haven't seen you so edgy since Nationals in our 3rd year of High School." Gou commented in the process, making Rei chuckle at the memory.

"That's true. I remember I kept pacing all over and I forgot my goggles too. So then Nagisa-ku-" and he stopped when he felt a rock drop heavy into his stomach. It hit him and forced him to remember where he was going today- who he was seeing today. "Gou-san, I'm nervous." he admitted.

"Good. That means you care at least." she remarked and finally stepped aside to get a full view of Rei's attire. He was nice, yet casual. He wore a purple cotton polo underneath a nice fashionable jacket and accompanied with black kakis. He wore his casual black dress shoes and his now matching dark purple socks with a faint print of butterflies on them. And of course, his trademark red frames he wears to finish the look off.

"There! You look very stylish." complimented Gou giving Rei the thumbs up.

"Y-You think it's okay for the occasion? Should I be more properly dressed?" Rei questioned as he looked around his body making sure all was in top notch.

"You're going out to lunch with old friends, not a wedding. You'll be fine."

Rei smiled at how confident Gou seemed to be with him. "Thank you again, Gou-san. For everything."

"You can repay me later. Now, go on. I know you are itching to get over there." she waved him off. Once Rei grabbed his wallet, he exited the hotel room looking sharp on the outside, but feeling wiggly on the inside.

\-----------------------------------

 

With the trains and roadways working just fine that day, Rei was able to get to the address by 10AM. He was too early. Looking around at the various stores, Rei thought of getting something to bring over. After all, his old team mates were taking time out of their busy schedules to see him. Rei at least got a chocolate cake with strawberry icing covering it at the nearest bakery. He even paid for the extra sliced strawberries to be place on it as well. He figured it would be a nice peace offering, assuming everyone would like it. He came across a small penguin plush on display on the window two stores down from the bakery. It held a big plush heart and as cheesy as it was, Rei bought it. A little something extra for Nagisa wouldn't hurt. He grabbed a cute little card to put with it as well and asked the clerk to have them both wrapped up together. Once the purchase was complete, Rei looked at his watch and thought it would be okay to go to the hotel.

\---------------------------------

 

Finally, Rei was outside, standing stiff as a board, in front of their hotel door at exactly noon. He hesitated before knocking, but eventually built the courage up to do so. Moments later, he heard softly beating footsteps approaching and held his eyes shut as the door opened and the person came into view.

"Hey Rei! Right on time." Makoto greeted.

"Hello, Makoto-senpai. I brought a cake and a little something for Nagisa as well..." He trailed off feeling a little comfortable. He thought the taller man might have thought of him weird, but Makoto just smiled at him and let him in. Apparently, they were staying at a very nice suite that practically replicated a small apartment. Rei looked around amazed at the space in the room. They had a small kitchen and a living set up as well. They never had rooms like this for swim tournaments or even in college, so Rei was fairly impressed. But then looked around again to notice no one was in sight.

"Um, where are Nagisa-kun and Haruka-senpai?" Rei turned to the brunette confused.

Makoto's face dropped with apprehension. He bit his lip in thought before giving in to Rei's question. "Nagisa has been in the bathroom for a while now. We told him about you coming over and…well, he freaked out again."

Rei's face paled and any hope he had of patching up their relationship flew out the window. "You told him?"

"We didn't want him to freak out when you popped up at the door. Guess it backfired, huh? We've been trying to get him to come out all morning but..." He looked off into the general direction not knowing what to do.

"Lets keep trying. " Makoto looked up as Rei spoke with his sudden burst of confidence. "Nagisa-kun never gave up on us before, so we can't give up on him. I'm sure we could convince him to come out eventually."

"Are you sure, Rei?"

"Positive. Now, where is the bathroom?" After placing his gifts on the end table by the couch, he was shown to the bathroom door. Haru was sitting outside it, arms folded across his legs patiently waiting for a sign. He glanced up when Rei and Makoto approached. 

"How is he?" Makoto worried.

"I haven't heard from him for thirty minutes." Haru sighed. He greeted Rei with another blank stare, but Rei just ignores it at this point.

"Let me try, Haruka-senpai." Rei requested. Haru grew annoyed. "Trust me. I have some things I need to say to him and I want to give it a try." Haru continued to glare, but then stood up next to Makoto to give Rei so space. Rei inhaled deeply and knocked lightly before he began to speak to the one he has been meaning to for two years.

"Nagisa-kun..." He started. No response was heard, so he continued on. "It's me, Rei. I was hoping to talk to you since-" and Rei stopped as his nerves were making him quiver. He didn't exactly know what to say. He worked his speech all last night, yet he was frozen and drawing a blank on how to approach this matter. He tried to think of all he has done, all he put everyone through. Maybe it would burst into something inspirational.

"…since I know I messed up. Scratch that and pardon my language; I fucked up. I fucked up so bad and it effected you in a way I never thought it would. I was selfish, stupid, and careless. I want to make it up to you- to everyone. I've been a horrible friend; a horrible person in fact. And I didn't realize it until it was too late. Please, Nagisa-kun, I want to apologize and start over with you. I wish to be in your life again. I know it may take time for you to even be around me, but I promise to be there for you. I won't run away or hide any more. I will do my best to earn your trust, respect, and friendship." It was silent after the speech Rei gave. 

"Nagisa-kun?" he tried to reach out once more, but it was silent. Then, a low 'bing' went off notifying that Makoto's phone went off in his pocket. He took it out to see who it was.

"It's Nagisa! He texted me!"

"What did he say?!" Rei asked anxious. Makoto read the text, then showed Rei the message.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Mako-chan- Give this message to Rei-chan._

_I don't believe you. Why should I let you into my life when you pushed me out of yours?_

 

Rei felt mixed things with the text. He felt hurt, but he wasn't surprised either.He thought he would try again to express to Nagisa how he feels.

"I understand your point. Maybe you shouldn't let me back into your life. I probably don't deserve it. But I want you to know that I didn't push you out because of anything I was feeling. Honest, it was all….complicated at the time and I was under a lot of pressure. So, it's up to you, Nagisa-kun. I will accept whatever decision you make." and Rei awaited some form of answer from the bathroom. He began to think maybe the last part was a bit harsh, but he has to be fair. No matter how Rei feels, it's really is up to Nagisa.

Then, another text alarmed Makoto and he handed the phone to Rei again.

 

**From: nagisa**

_If you want to talk to me, you have to answer all my questions no matter what. And be honest. I know when you're lying. If you can't, you have to leave. Those are the rules._

 

Rei took a deep breath and answered through the door again. "I'm willing to answer all your questions truthfully. You deserve it. Do you want me to give you my number so we don't use Makoto-senpai's phone?" A minute later, the phone went off again.

 

**From: nagisa**

_No. We use mako-chan's phone. I don't want you having my number and I want mako-chan and haru-chan to see my questions too._

 

Rei then turned to Makoto. "Is this okay with you, Makoto-senpai?"

"If it's the only way you guys can communicate, then it's okay with me. I can see where Nagisa is coming from." 

"Okay then. Thank you." Rei thanked. His attention then moved back to the bathroom door. "Nagisa-kun, you can ask your first question." Rei offered. Then the phone buzzed with the first question.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Why did you leave me? Give me the reason in detail_

 

Rei knew this question would be coming. Yet, he didn't know what to say. Then another message.

 

**From: nagisa**

_If you can't answer me then leave now._

 

That rushed Rei, even made him jump to defend himself, but he finally found his words. "Nagisa-kun, I left you because...I guess what I mean to say was I was afraid. I was stupid. I was being told things left and right and didn't know what direction to take. I knew I was head over heals for you, but I guess it scared me. We are both male and this sort of thing is usually frowned upon. I didn't know what I was doing. I thought that...I thought that if I let you go, things would be better for the both of us. You always had big dreams and I didn't want to get in the way of your success. I'm a fool to even think any of that and it's embarrassing to admit, but now I know that…you are very special to me. No one can ever replace you and I don't care what people say anymore. And I can fully support you with whatever you want to do." Rei stopped his speech and waited. Then a message appeared.

 

**From: nagisa**

_I'm going to list some questions now. 1. How would you have held me back? 2. Why didn't you tell me this instead of abandoning me? 3. Why did you drop all contact with me as well as mako-chan and haru-chan? 4. What were you afraid of? 5. Were you ashamed of me?_

 

Rei hesitated as he looked at the set of questions. He took a moment to process the words he wanted to say. Once he got it, he responded back.

"I'm going to try my best to explain every question asked in one full speech. So please, bare with me here." And Rei prepared himself mentally. "I knew you had great potential to be something phenomenal. You may have not have noticed, but with the amount of effort you work with, the amount of knowledge you have, and your drive to do what you want- I believed that you could've been anything you wanted. I didn't want you to hold back on any of your dreams because of me. But…looking at this now, I assume that is an excuse I gave myself. I- It's complicated to really say why I left you and I couldn't tell you because I was scared. At the time, being judged of my person really got to me. As you have known, my parents are fairly traditional when it comes to the concept of marriage or even dating. At the time, all I wanted was their approval. I didn't want to displease them. And if they knew about us...I was afraid to let them down, afraid I'd disappoint them, afraid to be myself around them. And that included loving you. I was never ashamed of you, never at all! I cared about you so much! But my fear got the best of me and I did something so utterly regrettable. I left you. I left everyone behind. I thought everyone would end up hating me. I thought you hated me. I hurt you so bad that day, I could never bring myself to go back. So I dropped all contact from everyone. I assumed Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai would never want to talk to me again, so I felt it was safe for myself to keep my distance. I thought maybe all of you could move on with your lives and forget me. I've made a lot of ill-calculated assumptions about all this. I was afraid and cowardly and I'm so so sorry!" Rei emotions were getting to the best of him and he hoped his words would be taken in as thoughtfully as he spoke them. But, the next text proved false.

 

**From: nagisa**

_I'm not believing that crap._

 

Rei was appalled reading that. "Nagisa-kun, it's true though!" and moments later another buzz on the phone.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Did you ever cheat on me?_

 

Rei was taken back by the question. "No! I'd never do that to you!" Not a second later, another message.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Lair._  

 

"I'm not lying! I never dated anyone else while being with you!" Then minutes later another message appeared.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Don't you dare lie to me about that! I know you did! Your parents told me! I came over one afternoon and they told me that you were out on a date! I've even seen a girl kiss you after we broke up! You honestly want me to believe that you "broke up" because you were worried about my future? And who exactly was judging you that it got to you? Classmates? People on the street? And don't try to pin this our your parents. I know they valued tradition but they were always nice people. Don't try to cover up your actions with excuses! Now tell me the truth or get out!_

 

This really boiled deep in Rei and he couldn't control himself anymore.

"Fine! You want to "know" the truth, Nagisa-kun? Do you? Because this is the reality I went through. The life I tried to hide from everyone, including you. I was proud to be with you. So proud that I ended up telling my parents about us. I told them I was having a relationship with you and you know what happened? My mother collapsed into grieving tears. My Father scowled at me and looked at me like I just murdered his precious straight-A student son. They tried to "fix" me and get me to date girls. They probably bragged all about it and ended up telling you one time, most likely to get rid of you. I never wanted to take part in that at all! I felt trapped and forced to suck up to my parents."

"Finally, when all seemed lost to them and I stood my ground, they threatened me. I was threatened to be kicked out, to have no support for college, and to be disowned from my family! I was heart broken to think my parents wouldn't at least accept who I was. I was terrified to think I had no where to go and no future to go along with. Because of all these fears, I didn't know what else to do. I was instructed to never see you again and my parents were the ones to convince to think you'd be better off without me. I was destroyed inside. And when I had to break up with you, I literally died that day. And looking back on it now, it was all because I was a coward. Because I was a coward, I made myself more miserable. I regretted doing what I did every single day. I hated myself! I deeply hated myself so much that I hid from Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai!" Rei felt tear pricking the corners of his eyes as he shouted out his own misery. He drew a shaky breathe before he continued on.

"My parents were horrible, manipulative people and I'm never going back to those times. Im never going back to them! And now that I'm not around my parents, or even care about them at this point! I just want to make things right. And I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry! Im not using excuses anymore. I take full responsibility of my actions." He finished loudly distraught. Makoto's eyes shook with woe from the agony Rei just expressed. Haru's expression, however, never changed. 

It was silent for a bit until a new message appeared.

 

**From: nagisa**

_Why should I trust you now then? If you kept this from me before, what makes you think I can trust you again to not do that? You've made me open up more than anyone and made me tell you all my problems. For this to work between us all, you have to be honest. Don't hide secrets like that and let me know what is going on with you. Again, why should I trust you now?_

 

Rei stared at the message for a while. He brought up a very good point. It made sense after hearing all Rei kept from him that he would question that. He just needs to be honest with him.

"Nagisa-kun... I can understand that you could never want to trust me again. I can understand even if you hate me. But,... know this. I've learned how badly my mistakes have been. I'm ashamed of myself for ever EVER doing this to you and to everyone. I've been told countless times how I'm better when I confront my problems head on and that's what I'm going to do. I have no excuses, no reasons to hide anything or treat you bad ever again. I swear, I'll be 100% honest with everyone in anything I do. I'm not afraid to be who I am now or what I like or who I love. I'm older and much more mature than I once was. But,... one thing that'll never change is I want to be in your life again and never leave you like I did. Never again." His heart rate grew faster throughout his whole speech and he was anxious to see how Nagisa would react.

A minute passed. Then another. And another.

"Any messages, Makoto-senpai?" Rei urgently asked. Said man checked, but nothing showed. So they waited there outside in the cramped hallway space. About 40 minutes has gone by and Makoto has been checking his phone constantly. As he was about to check the phone for the 25th time, the sound of the door clicking was heard. All eyes were on the bathroom door. And then...

It opened. It opened to blonde curls belonging to the one and only Nagisa. His head hung low and stayed that way, shielding his face. Slowly, he ungripped the door handle and strided out the bathroom straight up to Rei. They were now a foot apart and Rei noticed that Nagisa has grown a bit. He was still the shortest out of the four men in the hallway, but he was taller than he was two years ago. The blonde released a shaky sigh. 

"I- I...." He started. He gulped and his body started to shake a little. 

"It's nice to see you again, Nagisa-kun." Rei smiled down to him. Nagisa was a bit startled to hear the blue-haired man's voice so close. However, his face was still to the floor, not daring to look at Rei. Silence was looming around the four until Makoto coughed to break the tension.

"Well, now that we are all here, how about we go out to eat? I'm sure you're hungry, Nagisa." He suggested, but Nagisa didn't say a thing back to his tall-built friend. Rei was a little saddened Nagisa didn't open up a bit more, but coming up to him like that was a big achievement for him. So Rei will take that as a start.

\------------------------------

 

The hotel restaurant was located on the second floor, so they awaited for the elevator doors to take the four of them down. All squeezed into the fairly small box, but that didn't stop Rei from glancing at Nagisa, hanging in the far corner of the elevator. Once arrived, the doors slide aside presenting a long hallway directing them straight into the restaurant. Rei was admiring the craftsmanship of the interior of the restaurant. It appeared to illusion the area to come across bigger than it actually was. The gang stood at the front entrance when the hostess greeted them and led them to their table of dining. Rei took his eye off the room to sneak a look at the people who have so graciously invited him to dine with them. Next to Rei slumped Makoto, who was fidgeting with unease. The pressure seemed to be on his broad shoulders to bring everyone together, at least in the same mind set. Haru wasn't showing any signs of wanting to make conversation. Nagisa hid behind Haru's form, gluing his eyes to the phone placed in his hand. 

Once they were placed at their table, Makoto sat down in the end seat before Rei could decide where he'd sit. Nagisa flew into the other seat across Makoto and Haru followed suit next to him. Rei awkwardly sat next to Makoto and the silence continued to be the loudest in the group. The whole time, Haru and Nagisa kept to themselves and their phones. Makoto was making nervous random comments about the restaurant and the food they might have, hoping to get some form of a conversation going, but it isn't exactly working. Suddenly, a cough to clear the throat gained everyone's attention to the tallest of the four.

"So Rei, uh…"Makoto attempted the small talk. " Tell us, what you've been up to? It's been a while since we all spoke to you." 

Rei was a tad startled as the focus was now placed on him. "Oh, uh...well I graduated with a bachelors in science."

"Oh, really? That's amazing!" Makoto complemented.

"T-Thank you. I have also interned part time in a lab in Tokyo, but that was during school. That's mostly what I've been up to, really." Rei looked over to Nagisa to see no change in his position. A rather abrupt buzz was heard on Haru's phone and he opened it. He glanced to the message and appeared to reply back. Rei assumed maybe Nagisa was talking to Haru via text message, but he couldn't help feel a bit unsettled thinking they were talking about him. Before he could wonder about the situation across the table, a menu loomed closer to his face catching his attention. Rei accepted the menu from Makoto and the tall man placed menu's in front of the others. Haru immediately grabbed it and began his search for his acquired dish. Rei sneered thinking that the raven-haired man was looking for his beloved mackerel to come in any way shape or form. 

"Nagisa," Makoto called out to get the blond's attention. "Aren't you going to look through the menu? They have a lot of great dishes I'm sure you'd like." His head sunk lower past his shoulders as he didn't reply to Makoto. Quick taps were heard and moments later another buzz came to Haru's phone.

"Nagisa, you need to eat something." He remarked. Nagisa only shook his head in response, further irritating his friend next to him.

"Nagisa, please. You haven't eaten all day. At least pick something." pleaded Makoto, but his request was ignored and Nagisa continued keep to himself. Rei frowned knowing that the blond won't eat because of him, but he noticed a spark of fire in the blue eyes across from him. But they weren't directed to him; It was to Nagisa.

It took another 5 minutes, but everyone had their orders picked out and politely requested service to the table. Not a second later, a lovely waitress, looking maybe a little older than the group, welcomed them with a warm smile.

 "What can I get you?" asked the cheery waitress. 

"I'll take the mackerel meuniere." ordered Haru the first second he got. Makoto lightly groaned at his friend's usual bluntness and habit. Rei chuckled at the past time gag that was still around to this day. The waitress didn't seem to mind Haru's straight forwardness. She then received Makoto's and Rei's orders as well and repeated them back to ensure the orders were correct. Once approved, she turned to the last remaining in the group to order.

"And for you, sir?" She asked. Nagisa didn't move, but Haru's phone goes off and he looks at the message. His expression turns sour. 

"Nagisa, order something." Haru demanded, but no budge. 

"Nagisa, please!" Makoto begged at this point.

"How about I come back for you when you've decided, okay?" She suggested. The blonde didn't respond so Haru answered for him.

"Thank you. We'll do that."

"Alright! I'll go put your orders in then!" And the waitress left leaving the group hushed. Eventually, the ice was broken by Makoto yet again.

"So Rei, how did it go in college? I don't think we really talked during your experience at all. I know when Haru and I attended it was pretty intense, right Haru?" Makoto eyed his friend, aiming to bring him in to at least help make small talk.

"It wasn't too bad. They had a pool. That's all I needed." He briefly spoke, but remained plastered to his phone.

"Haru would always be at the pool when it wasn't bring used. I'd always know to find him there. It was nice because we benefitted from helping each other in our career goals."

"Haruka-senpai, weren't you going into the Olympics with Rin-san though?" Rei remembered at the end of their third year, Rei's second year, how Haru struggled with finding a career path, later deciding to be a pro swimmer.

"I'm on a break." Haru simply stated.

"Haru got permission from his coach to take a short break to help with the tour. He went back not to long ago to train. Good thing there are pools in some of the hotels. At least you could practice there if need be." Makoto added to further explain Haru's situation. Rei was a little surprised that Haru would take that much time out to tend to Nagisa. He envied the former senpai like he did back in high school.

"How about you, Rei? Were you on the swim team?" Makoto asked.

Rei bent his head down a bit in shame. "I was…for the first year or so. I had to quit due to... a few issues." This caused Nagisa to slightly look at Rei. He could see a glint some regret in his soft magenta eyes.

"Well, we won't press on about the issues then. How were your classes? I bet you passed with flying colors." Makoto admired having high hopes in Rei. This only made him let out a forced chuckle. 

"I wish. I actually was lacking my sophomore and junior year. I, uh, wasn't too focused and let myself slip. Once it was my last year though, I put it to high gear and studied my way to the top 10 at least. I barely managed to get my degree, but thank goodness I did. But now it's finding a job to support myself." Rei had been watching Nagisa here and there during his explanation only to notice that he texted back and forth with Haru a couple times.

"That's good. What kind of job are you looking into? Something along the lines of what you did at your internship?" Makoto continued to get Rei to talk more.

"Im...actually not sure. Though the place of my internship was nice, I don't know if I could last there as a career." 

Makoto seemed surprised by the answer. "Oh. Any reason why?" he wondered, making the bespectacled man a bit uncomfortable.  

"Well-"

"I have your orders!" chimed the waitress as she handed everyone their food with grace. After the food was received by each person, she moved her focus back to Nagisa. "Have you decided on anything?" She attempted to get the order again only to get head shake as a response. Haru was fed up with the blond and decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I'd actually like to order more, if you don't mind." And he grabbed the menu, quickly scanning it for a few seconds before smirking, which was something Rei had never seen from his former senpai. "I'll order a strawberry shortcake." Haru stated casually. Makoto and Rei's mimicked the same expression; Mouths gaped and eyes bugged out at the sheer fact that Haru, who was not one for sweets, wanted the sugar dessert. The shock quickly faded when they look to Nagisa and noticed he peered up to Haru hurt as if he was betrayed. That didn't bother Haru who grinned back with a face saying "What now?". 

"Alrighty! Anything else?" The waitress beamed, so Haru continued.

"Yeah. Do you guys have ice cream?"

"Yes we do."

So Haru ordered some ice cream and continued to order a handful of other dishes that, coincidentally, were some of Nagisa'a favorites. He finished the endless list of orders, allowing the waitress to place the orders. As she was leaving the table, Haru moved his view to a very pouty Nagisa, his bottom lip pushed out and brows slanted downwards above his squinting glare. 

"What? You didn't want to eat, so I got more food. Too bad you didn't want anything. I feel like I ordered some of your favorites too..." Haru teased. Nagisa only deepened his icey, but not intimidating, glare at him. 

Out of no where, they were interrupted by some low rumble that sounded like internal coughing, but they soon realized it was laughter being bottled within. Everyone at the table looked to the source, which happened to be Rei. The sight was kind of weird, yet calming. The bespectacled man held his hand to his mouth in hopes to not show that he can't contain his fit. His shoulders bounced as a result of his attempts in controlling himself. This made Nagisa's features soften and stare at chuckling man. The giggles seemed to be contagious as Makoto started to have a light fit as well. Haru only continued to watch the two sneering men in front of him.

"What are you laughing about?" Haru asked nonchalantly. 

Rei was able to slightly compose himself to speak. "I'm sorry-haha- but I never expected that from you, Haruka-senpai-hahaha. And-And Nagisa-kun's face! Haha! Oh my goodness! I haven't seen him with that face in ages! Haha!" He managed to say, a tint of red dusting on Nagisa's face as the result. 

Rei tried to settle down, however, in his attempt he flung the chop sticks off his plate, sending them tossing in the air. He aimed to grab them before they were in sight or hit the ground, but to his luck he ended up knocking over his hot tea all on to his crotch. The instant burning sensation made Rei shriek, escalating his pitch so loud the entire restaurant heard. He literally fell out of his seat with a little dance and started batting at his pants to get the heat away as if his pants were on fire.

He froze his dance of pain when he heard a small soft giggle, which turned into a non stop giggles, and evolved into high pitched laughter. Rei's moved his gaze on to the boy making such a lovely noise.

It was Nagisa. He was laughing so hard, whacking the table with his entire hand while the other held onto his chest trying to catch is breath. Makoto and Haru were astounded as the blonde finally smiled AND laughed. It was like they just saw something magical, but in their case it kind of was a bit magical.

"HAHA-OH MY GOSH REI-CHA-HAHAHA-I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY DIS THA-HAHAHAHAHA!! " Nagisa's high pitched crackles stunned Rei motionless. He was too captivated at the happiness he had accidentally caused to even notice how he slowly started to chime in as well. So after, Makoto and Haru added their laughs to the mixture. "I CAN'T- I CAN'T BREATHE-HEHEHE!! HAHAHA!"  Nagisa strived to talk between laughing. The table of four had some other customers enjoy the scene, but soon enough, they were told to politely keep it down. 

Eventually, everyone was able to regain composure wiping sweet tears from their eyes.

"Oh my gosh. Are you alright, Rei?" Makoto sighed out of exhausted. Rei finally sat back down onto the seat once the last of the tea was cleaned up.

"Yeah. I don't think I was burned but...that was REALLY not beautiful..." He groaned into his palms, hiding his face in slight shame. Soft giggles get everyone aware of Nagisa in the corner, now with his hands covering his mouth hiding that fact he thought the comment was humorous.

"Nagisa-kun-" said person jumped, halting all sound and signs of joy. He shly creeped his face to glimpse at the man he hasn't really said a word to all day. "…it's great to hear you laugh again." Rei smiled. Heat rose onto his face when he raised his head in awe of the comment.

Time passed and Haru's orders finally came in. Soon enough they finished lunch without any other mishaps. The four managed to consume almost all of the food; Even Nagisa was eating as well, to everyone's relief. Once they told they waitress they didn't need anything else, she walked off to returned moments later with the bill for them.

"Alright, I have this covered-" Makoto began as he retrieved his wallet.

"Allow me Makoto-senpai." offered Rei, who quickly wiped out a card in his hand. The sudden generosity shocked Makoto.

"Rei? Are you sure? You don't have to-"

"You all took the time out of your busy schedule to make lunch together happen today. It's the least I could do. It's no trouble at all." The opposite three had eyes filled with surprised and a touch of gratitude from his actions. The waitress accepted the payment when they were back to the front area of the restaurant and were seen out to the hotel hallways. 

"So, what's the rest of the day look like for you guys?" asked Rei curiously as he escorted the others back to the elevator.

"There is a practice session at 4:30 for Nagisa's next concert in 2 days. And then-" Makoto's phone interrupted him before he says more. He politely excuses himself, leaving the three remaining there to wait in uncomfortable quietness. 

"Hey…Rei-chan...." the faint voice of Nagisa released the tension. He still wasn't facing Rei when talking to him though. "Uhh,…thank you. For, uh, lunch...and for making me laugh...twice." He shyly thanked. Rei's heart fluttered a bit when he was told that, from Nagisa never the less. Maybe things could be okay after all. 

"You're welcome, Nagisa-kun. Though causing myself pain and embarrassment wasn't exactly how I planned to make you smile." He blushed a bit recalling the little incident, earning another gentle chuckle. 

"So...what are you doing for the rest of the day?" The blonde asked in his effort for small talk.

"I'm not sure at the moment..." Rei trailed off making it was quiet yet again.

"Y-You need to change your pants." Nagisa stated quite bluntly throwing the taller of the two off guard.

"Huh?! Are they not in style now? Do they not match? I knew it. I thought if I wore these pants that-" but Nagisa stopped Rei's ranting before it grew into an elaborate tangent.

"No no! It's not that. You spilled tea all over them, remember?" Rei didn't forget one bit since his pants were victim to being drenched by the scorching beverage and his crotch feeling soaringly uncomfortable even to this moment. He noticed the dampness of his pants were making his unmentionables rather cold. Nagisa must've read Rei's mind because of what he mentions next.

"Your underwear is probably soaked too. You should come up to the hotel room. I'll give you some clothes to wear for the time being." Rei was astounded at not only how much Nagisa has just spoke to him, but how thoughtful he was being too. He agreed and thanked him for his kind act to Rei and his lower regions. Before another conversation happened, Makoto slugged back over, confrontion spreading on his expression. He unknowingly rubbed the back of his neck out of habit being lost in his own thoughts.

"Everything okay, Makoto?" Haru focused on Makoto's actions with concern. Makoto, however, knows that Haru can read his emotions better now a days and quickly changed his expression to his generic warm smile.

"It's nothing. Lets head up stairs now, shall we?" Makoto avoided answering. The elevator arrived and quickly raised them to their designated level. The four made their way back to the the suite in no hurry. Makoto seemed to be preoccupied to himself and Nagisa didn't speak anymore to Rei.

Once they walked in, Nagisa brushed through the others in a skip.

"I'll go grab some dry clothes- Be right back!" He then lightly and carefully jogged to the room he was staying in. Rei looked in his the direction he disappeared in the entire time until his attention changed to his former senpais having their quarrel.

"Makoto, what's wrong?" Haru questioned him again. Makoto looked troubled and now that Haru and Rei had their eyes set on him, he knew couldn't hide it.

"I got a phone call...my mother is in the hospital." He lightly spoke.

"What?! What happened?" Rei panicked a bit for his friend's mother as well as for his friend in general. He hoped he wasn't being rude or prying to hard, but Makoto spoke up again.

"She collapsed. I...I don't know what to do..." Makoto started to shiver with uncertainty to the situation. He resembled a lost puppy; big eyes of with terror painted into them, a woe expression to complement it, his voice trembling as he spoke. Watching Makoto like this was very painful not only for Haru, but for Rei as well. He couldn't imagine a situation like this with himself, but he understands how frightening it could be.

"Go to her." Haru told him flat out. The other two looked at him startled by the response, especially Makoto.

"B-But Haru! What about the tour? And what about scheduling interviews and-" Makoto argued back only to be shot down by Haru's responses. 

"I can do it." 

"But what about keeping the medication and taking care of situations like-"

"I got it."

"But what about Nagisa-" and that's when the back and forth banter stopped. They stared into each other's eyes feeling dread and hopelessness.

"I can help." The attention then turned to Rei, who has now squeezed his way into their dilemma.

Makoto sighed. "Rei, that's nice of you to offer but,-"

"Makoto-senpai, you need to be by your mother's side. Listen to Haruka-senpai. I can stay and help out when need be." Makoto and Haru shared a look, probably telepathically discussing whether to give Rei the chance or not.

"Are you sure, Rei? You don't have a job or anything that would get in the way, right?" Makoto wanted to make sure.

"I was in the process of looking for a job anyway. So until you come back, I can put that on hold." Makoto lightly smiled to Rei.

"Thank you, Rei. Is it okay with you, Haru? You'll be okay running this-"  

"I can handle things on my own." Haru interrupted.

"Haru, no. That's too much, especially for you. Plus, you could be called back to training any day now!" Makoto reminded him, causing Haru to click his tongue aggravated. However, he sighed and looked to Rei with his blank expression. His eyes seemed to be trying to pierce their Rei's soul, making him a bit on edge. Haru groaned back to the tall brunette.

"…Sure." He gave a short response, which was all Rei and Makoto needed for breathe out in relief.

"Really?" Rei wanted to double check to assure himself it really was okay.

" **But** , you have to listen to what I tell you to do. Especially when it goes for Nagisa. Got it?" Haru demanded, making himself come off more intimidating than he'd usually be.

"Uh, yes." Rei gulped. Haru averted his eyes back to his best friend.

"You should pack up and head out. I'll call Nagisa's producer and let him know what's up and that Rei will be here in your place."

"Thank you, Haru, Rei." Makoto sighed, ridding some of the nerves rattling his stomach. Suddenly, small pit pats hurried over to the group. 

"I-I got you some clothes." Nagisa smiled up to Rei, but not looking into his eyes. Rei thanked him again and accepted the clothing. "So, what's going on here?" Nagisa wondered as to why everyone was huddled by the door still. Makoto forcefully chuckled, but then changed his face to insure Nagisa that everything was okay.

"I have an emergency to attend to, so I'm going to be gone for a while." He told the blonde just above a whisper.

"What?! What happened Mako-chan?!" Nagisa freaked out up in Makoto's face.

"My mother is in the hospital. She collapsed and we don't know why yet. So I'm going to see her. Haru knows the situation. In my place, Rei offered to be here to help you and Haru with whatever he can until I get back." Nagisa's eyes widened and he glanced back at Rei looking a bit uneasy. Makoto caught his actions though.

"Are you okay with that, Nagisa?" Makoto wanted to make sure before it was all set in stone. Nagisa looked up to the taller brunette and remained silent for a moment, face twisted in thought before Makoto continued. "If you don't want him to stay, then I-"

"Don't!" Nagisa yelped, causing alarm in everyone. He seemed to notice that he was a bit unclear, so he embarrassedly tried to explain himself better. "D-Don't stay back for my sake, Mako-chan. Your mom is more important, so you should go to her." He smiled up at Makoto.

"Would you like Rei to help out while I'm gone?" Makoto directly questioned. Nagisa gazed to the ground, keeping quiet when deciding whether if this was a good idea or not.

"I…." he started. "I know it's a lot of work…you and Haru-chan do so much for me as it is and I couldn't be happier. I know Haru-chan is going to need time to practice his swimming and you have your life too, so…." He stood straight and turned around to face everyone.

"If Rei-chan can help out you guys right now….then he can stay…." He faced Makoto again with a light grin. "I have to face my problems too and be strong, right?"

"Are you 100% sure, Nagisa?" Makoto doubled checked. 

The blonde nodded. "I'm sure. I'll be fine. Just…give us updates on your mom's condition, okay?" 

"I will. And if you need to talk to me at all, my phone will be on for you, okay?" reassured Makoto. 

"Yeah." And the two embraced in a deep warm hug. 

\------------------------------

 

Eventually, Makoto had all his things he needed packed away into his green duffle bag ready to head out the door when everyone gave their best of wishes to him.

"Call me when you get there. Keep us updated." Haru ordered. Makoto nodded his head in return.

"Makoto-senpai, I'll do my best to listen to what Haruka-kun tells me to do. So don't worry about it here. And I hope your mother is okay." Makoto patted Rei's shoulder and thanked him.

"Mako-chan..." All their attention to the shy voice belonging to Nagisa. "...know that…you can call me too... If you need to. Also, this is for auntie." he hands a colorfully wrapped box to the brunette. The expression on the man's face was enough to show how appreciative he is of smaller one's gift.

"Thank you, Nagisa. I'll let my mom know you guys are thinking of her." Makoto then leaned down to pick up his duffle. "I'll be off now." He waved.

"Bye Mako-chan. Let us know what's happening." 

"Have a safe trip, Makoto-senpai."

"Makoto," said boy looked over at his best friend. Haru just placed his eyes at him. "Be safe." A light red brushed over Makoto's face from Haru's caring words.

"I will." And he walked out the door leaving the remaining three positioned by the door with the sound of nothingness floating about them. Rei turned down to Nagisa noticing the boy was fidgeting a bit with his fingers. 

"So-" Rei began, but Nagisa walked off to the other room ignoring him completely. Rei frowned watching the blonde disappear. He looked towards his former senpai now. "I guess I'll make a trip home to grab things I would need. "

"Yeah, good idea." stated Haru with his usual low voice.

"When I get back, what should be my first duty?" Rei wanted to know ahead of time what his job entitled. He would be mortified if messed up instantly before the job even started.

"Practice is at 4:30, I believe. So if we are still there, meet us at the studio. I'll get you the address. Worse case, call me when you get back." And Haru walked off to grab something to write on. "You had a hotel in Chiba too, right? Might want to check out of that." Haru mentioned coming back with the address and phone number now written on the slightly torn notebook paper.

"Oh, Gou-san actually got the hotel room and she planned on leaving tomorrow so no need to worry about that. I'll just let her know the situation" Rei remarked leaving Haru to hum in response.

He handed Rei the paper. "Here." 

Rei carefully grabbed the paper from Haru's grip. "Thank you, Haruka-senpai"

"Whatever." Was all he said before he plopped on to the couch in the living room area of the suite.

"I'm off to my place then. I'll be back." Rei called out, but Haru didn't reply. With that, Rei to his leave. Moments later, pitter patters of foot steps approached from behind Haru, who is now browsing the channels they had offered to them.

"Where'd Rei-chan go?" questioned Nagisa cautiously. 

"He needed things from his place, so he went to get them. You're good for a couple of hours at least." After hearing that, Nagisa released a deep sigh he never knew he was holding. He plopped on the couch, his back making contact to the cushions and head on Haru's lap.

"You have no idea how hard that was! I was practically hyperventilating in the bathroom earlier today and thank goodness lunch wasn't all focused on me!" Nagisa groaned out in relief. His gazed up to look at Haru. "Why did you guys accept him back so easily any way?" He only received a shrug from the older male.

"It's more that Makoto did. He accepted Rei easily because he's a softy. Rei still has to prove himself to me. What he did was unforgivable." Haru then turned the question to his smaller friend. "Why did you accept him back so easily?"

"WOAH! WOAH! Hold up! I didn't exactly "accept him"! I can't even be in the same room for a minute without me panicking and pretending he isn't there! But...." he inhaled. "I gave him another chance because....well....he seemed convincing... and I wanted to see if he was serious, I suppose...." Nagisa buried his face in to one of the couch pillows and made incoherent dying whale noises. Suddenly, something caught his attention when he looked up from the pillow. There were two very colorful boxes just sitting at the end table. 

"What's this, Haru-chan?" Nagisa asked already snooping the boxes. Haru paused to face the direction of the boxes he never noticed earlier.

"Beats me." Nagisa was holding one of the boxes when Haru replied. It was very light and held together with pieces of sticky tape. He snapped the tape binding it, revealing the contents inside, but froze when he saw what was in the box. A small fuzzy penguin plush holding a heart along with a card sat inside smiling ever so brightly back at Nagisa. Curious, he took it out and examined it. He indeed thought the soft plush was super cute and very huggable, yet he had a unsettling feeling in his gut of who it was from. He took the card the penguin held and removed it from the envelope. The front was covered in penguins hugging in a powdery wonderland of glitter. He opened the card to see a written message inside.

 

_Nagisa-kun,_

_I know this isn't much, but please accept these as the beginning of my apology. I know I've messed up bad and I'd do anything to make things the way they were before. I hope we could possibly start over?_

_Sincerely,_

_Rei_

 

Nagisa shoved the card down with lightening speed and his body began to shake a little. His chest started to ache and he tried breathing deeply to control himself. This caused Haru to move his focus from the tv screen to him.

"What's wrong?" The concerning sound in his voice snapped Nagisa out of his worries.

"N-nothing, Haru-chan. It's nothing..." Though Nagisa was obviously a little worked up. Despite that, his curiosity of what was in the last box allowed him to peek inside. His eyes sparkled at the sight of a big pink cake, decorated in an arrangement of strawberries on top and sliced strawberries surrounding the bottom.

"Haru-chan! There's a cake in here!" Nagisa exclaimed breaking the box down to extract the delicious present. 

"We just ate though." Haru replied back.

"Either way, this shouldn't go to waste!" And before anything else, the blonde pranced off to grab himself a plate. Once he returned to the couch with everything in hand, the cake was immediately being cut up.

"Who is it from?" Haru was now curious about the gifts.

Nagisa looked startled by the question and took a slight moment to reply. "Oh, going by the card I found…it's from Rei-chan. He probably forgot to mention it since, you know..." The guilt was seen on Nagisa's face.

"Like you said, don't make it go to waste then. Besides, it's nice you have your appetite back." Haru smirked because he wasn't lying. With how Nagisa has been, him having his usual appetite was a good sign. Nagisa snickered a bit back to his taller friend.

"You think so? I really do miss eating sometimes though. Especially Iwatobi surprise bread!"

"I forgot that existed." Haru seemed a bit disgusted remembering that very sweet and 'cheap' atrocity of a lunch.

"We need to get some! For old times sake, you know?" the blonde beamed. Seeing how content his friend was for once, Haru returned the look.

"Yeah, we'll get you some one way or another."

 

**End Track 2**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Done that. So Let's see how Rei works out helping out Haru and Nagisa. Rei is going to have to work his buns off to get on their good side. And can I just say that Haru and Nagisa bromance gives me life? Like, I can picture them hanging out getting into whatever trouble while Makoto and Rei have to watch over their destructive boyfriends. 
> 
> The next chapter may take a while. With school getting intense and convention season coming closer, I have a lot on my plate, but I'll do my best to get it out soon. Again, sorry this took forever to get out. I hope you enjoyed this and continue to read on when things get real!
> 
> Also, I'm on tumblr. Hit me up at kikaescoolio.tumblr.com or kikadoodles.tumblr.com


	3. Track 3- I'm New to This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Shut up!" and Rei was taken back by the snapping Nagisa. The group came to a halt, and Nagisa swung around to emit a piercing glare, one Rei, nor Haru, have never seen coming from their small friend.
> 
> "If you are going to help us, then I want your first job to shut up and keep your distance. I can't deal with you right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry! Super long time no see!
> 
> As for what's been for the reason of the delay of an update has been due to conventions, cosplay making, self esteem issues, post schooling issues, and jobs. Also, a side project of my own development happening, but check my blog out about that soon. I've been meaning to update this for ages and I promise I'm going to try and be better at it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, thank you so much for your lovely comments and support. They have made my days and help me want to work harder. :)  
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter and prepare for more chapters in the future!

**Track 3- I'm new to this**

 

"Let's see... Going off my calculations an length of a tour is..." Rei mumbled to himself as he calculated getting packed. The trip home didn't take long, but his method of packing was surely taking him longer than he anticipated.

"I'll look at my check list again..." He continued to juddered grabbing his list on the bed. However, I glimmer sparkle caught his attention when he spotted a necklace, that special necklace, laying upon is desk. He and Nagisa had purchased matching necklaces a while back after their first karaoke outting and he has taken care of it ever since. The memory fresh in his mind.

  

_"Let's get match necklaces, Rei-chan!"_

 

_"Ah! They're rings! How cute!"_

 

_"Guess that means we're married! Ha ha!"_

 

The memory had Rei in such a loop that he couldn't believe there was a time he and Nagisa were best friends, lovers even. But now the boy can't even face him, let alone only whisper a few words or so.

Rei shook off those negative thoughts. "No! Everything is going to be fine! Like before…" He spoke his thoughts aloud to the emptiness. "He started talking and even offered me a clean pair of pants. So, everything will be fine."

The effort to reassure himself mildly worked, but he struggled to push any other negatively convincing arguments in his head. He looked towards the ticking clock on his wall monitoring his time. 

16:30. (4:30 pm)

"I guess they are at the studio now..." Rei muttered. The time made him quicken his packing pace and his calculations of "perfect packing". With a final check on his list, he folded the list neatly into his pants pocket and was about to rush out the door. 

He stopped at the first step noticing the ring necklace once more. Despite the situation, he felt a strong urge to wear it and ended up putting it on. He tucked it under his shirt to keep it safe. He hasn't worn it in ages, so the feeling of the cool, thin metal gave him goosebumps. And thus, after the final _final_ check, he made his leave from his apartment for the next month or so.

\--------------------------

 

When Rei texted Haru, notifying him that he was in Chiiba again, he was told to come to the studio. In no time at all, he managed to find the place with ease right before Nagisa's practice season was over. Of course, he was questioned at the front desk and was refused access. Rei tried telling him he was with Nagisa, but they wouldn't budge. In the end, he had to contact Haru to confirm that he was with them. Haru looked rather unpleased walking down the lone hallway, but once questioned he told them that Rei was filling in for the time being.

Rei was finally aloud entry afterwards, but the workers continued to eye him up suspiciously. Rei tried to ignore it when he caught to Haru's pace, making his way back to the room the practice is in.

"So, what's going on now, Haruka-senpai?"

"Nagisa is just finishing up. So we just wait." Rei understood, but kind of felt useless for the time being.

Without realizing, they arrived to the practice room. If Haru didn't stop, Rei would've walked on stuck in his thoughts. As the sound proof door was opened, Rei was entranced by the lovely vocals radiating from the other side. The two cautiously entered the room when Rei noticed a another man in the room, about Rin's height, but built like Haru. He noted his purple dress shirt, black vest, and black kakis was not only beautiful attire, but very professional. His green hair was cut short, but neatly slightly spiked. The man was right beside Nagisa, looking like he was encouraging the blonde. Nagisa would look up and smile back, maybe even let out a soft giggle. 

Rei felt envy. He wished he could do that to Nagisa again, but brushed those feelings off as fast as he could. Jealously wasn't beautiful, he deemed. Feeling out of place, he took a seat on the leather love seat next to Haru, who was glued to his phone texting someone. Probably Makoto.

"Hey! You must be Makoto's replacement!" Rei's head whipped up at the unexpected greeting. The man he observed was now gazing down at him, amused. 

"Uh, y-yes. I'm Ryugazaki Rei. It's nice to meet you." He stood and bowed, almost embarrassingly quick.

"Woah there! No need to freak! It's nice to meet you too. I'm Fujisaki, Nagisa's producer."  He held out his hand to shake. Rei accepted bashfully, taking a glimpse behind the man to see Nagisa, having a sour look to his face. He could tell the smaller male wasn't so happy to see him.

"Well, now that introductions are over, I can tell you that today's practice has been pretty successful. Just make sure this kid gets his beauty sleep and keeps up that energy for the show tomorrow!"

"Oh, yes! Of course." Rei's replied, entertaining Fujisaki.

"You need to relax. I'm not a "big bad producer", right Nagisa?" He smiled back to Nagisa, who occupied himself with his own phone.

"Man, you kids and your phones." He sighed before clapping his hands. "Back to practice! You have one more song I want you to rehearse. Now, this song should be after-" and made his way back to the sound booth carrying on his conversation with the blonde. Rei watched on the sidelines as the two communicated. He noted that Nagisa's mood wasn't as chipper as he was when first Rei entered. He stayed stoic. He showed no signs of happiness, though he looked focused and serious. 

'Maybe he is concentrating on rehearsal. It is his career after all.' Rei thought to himself. He gazed at the raven haired man next to him again, tightly gripping his phone as he grew impatient for the awaiting text. He was tense, even though his face didn't show it, the tight muscles on his arms did along with his clenching fingers. His unfazed gaze to the little screen was also a dead giveaway.

"Are you waiting for Makoto-senpai to text back?" Rei attempted conversation not only to not feel so uncomfortable, but to maybe calm his former senpai's nerves. Haru seemed a bit startled, being stuck in his thoughts. He didn't bother looking up though. He only made a slightly noise of agreement.

"H-How's his mother doing?" The blue haired man stuttered out trying harder to at least get a word out of the guy. 

"He just got to the hospital. He's awaiting answers with his family." Haru mumbled out. 

"Oh..." was all Rei responded with. He decided to keep to himself, seeing how Haru obviously didn't want to talk. He glanced back to Nagisa and thats when his eyes were sucked into the glow of his energy. Rei remembers hearing this exact song on the cd he bought of Nagisa's. And he had to admit, it was his favorite. 

The tune itself, slow paced mixed with some piano, acoustic guitar strums, and powerful beats. Each tap, strum, chord, and note matched up beautifully with the fluid beat of the song. What warmed Rei's heart the most was how soft Nagisa's voice was when he sang the beginning and how it grew into something empowering. On the cd, he sounds so lively and confident which fits the lyrics. The song itself talks about the struggles life my have in store and to "never give up". The passion in his voice expressing what he is singing is true. All and all, Rei could only describe the song as "beautiful". 

So when listening to Nagisa now, he sounded nervous, anxious, angry. Rei could tell that something bothered him and had a hunch he knew what- or rather who- was causing this. Nagisa's performance wasn't unnoticed by his producer either.  

"Hm, somethings off. You sound kind of flat. Something bothering you, kid?" His producer's voice only sounding concerned for the blonde, but Nagisa only groaned back.

"I'm fine. Maybe I'm just tired. I promise I'll do better tomorrow!" He looked up apologetic to his producer who chuckled back.

"I know you will. You never let me down. You did great all day today, so your free to go." The news had Nagisa sighing in relief.

Before they all left for the night, Fujisaki approached them.

"Now be ready by 8am, okay? A bus will be outside by then and we'll load up and head to Niigata for the next show. Good work everyone!" Once they returned the thanks, the three strolled out of the building in utter silence. 

Rei was getting a little sick of how these moments were always so uncomfortably silent. He remembered when they all would walk home from swim practice, they'd all be talking about something at least. If not all four, at least two would talk and the other two would be having another conversation. Some sort of noise would be going on. Some chatter. But now as he gazed at the other two, Haru kept his face forward and blank. Nagisa looked away from the group tugging close to Haru.

He decided to clear his throat and begin something to end this whole awkward display. "You sounded really great back there, Nagisa-kun." Rei complemented, but that didn't effect the blonde. He continued to ignore, so Rei attempted again.

"I wasn't there for too long, but walking into the room hearing your voice was s-"

"Shut up!" and Rei was taken back by the snapping Nagisa. The group came to a halt, and Nagisa swung around to emit a piercing glare, one Rei, nor Haru, have never seen coming from their small friend.

"If you are going to help us, then I want your first job to shut up and keep your distance. I can't deal with you right now." Nagisa demanded staring directly into Rei's eyes, slightly intimidating the taller of the two. With the point getting across, Nagisa wiped himself away and quicken his pace away from the other two. Haru glanced over to Rei, possibly a sypathetic gleam in his eye, but carried on walking too. To not loose the two, Rei convinced his body to move too, slugging behind in a sulk. Again, Rei began to doubt himself.

\-----------------------------------------

 

The crack of dawn couldn't have come any sooner. All awoke from their heavenly slumbers by the hurricane horn of the tour bus sitting outside. Luckily, the three were all packed since last night and only had to wake up, load the bus, and leave. Haru managed to be awake, but kept quietly seated grasping his phone and watching the scenery fly by. Rei listened to the amazingly awake Fujisaki ramble on about what is going on during the tour, like interviews, photo shoots, and so on. But with Fujisaki talking like he had 8 cups of expresso, Rei managed to get lost in what he was saying. Rei averted his attention to the small blonde snoring away in a seat in the back of the bus.

Cuddled under a blanket with a penguin plush, Nagisa seemed at peace while slumbering. The sight had Rei glued, but he was caught gazing shortly after starting.

"Earth to Ryuugazaki!" Rei jumped unaware that Fujisaki was not only there, but snickering at him. "I know Nagisa is adorable, but your job isn't to literally watch him. Remember that." he teased. 

"Y-Yes! I'm sorry! I just-"

"It's fine! I didn't get too much into detail. Let me start by going over tomorrow with you." and Fujisaki explained the amount of things planned for Nagisa tomorrow. Rei luckily was prepared with a notepad to take notes, because it was already going to be a big day planned for the little super star.

\------------------------------------

 

About 4 hours later, they arrived in Niigate and checked into the hotel they were staying at there. Again, Nagisa, Haru, and Rei were in a Suite together while Fujisaki got his own. The three piled into their new Suite in awe. It was big like the last one, but more colorful and bright. It came with a nice living space (tv included), a mini kitchen, a fairly large bathroom, and two bedrooms. Nagisa, despite still being a bit groggy, ran all over the spacious Suite.

"This one is my bedroom~!" he sang out, flopping onto the bed and roll all over to claim it his own.

"Then I'll take the other then." Haru claimed.

"Eh! So… am I on the couch then?" Rei felt cornered to ask. Nagisa froze, stilling his once flailing body. Rei was concerned he overstepped his boundaries, but was interrupted. 

"You can take my room then. I'll take the bath tub." cleared up Haru, but his suggestion had Nagisa fling up and cling to him.

"Haru-chaaaan! Don't sleep in the bath!"

"Why not?"

"What if we have to pee in the middle of the night?"

"I won't look."

"You aren't worried Haruka-senpai might drown in the bath if he slept in it?" Rei shrieked, but was ignored by the other two bickering.

"Haru-chan sleep with me!"

"But-"

"Don't sacrifice yourself like that. Just share a room with me! Pleeeeeease!" and the head nuzzle to convince the raven-haired man commenced. 

"Fine."

"Yay! Haru-chan gets to sleep with me tonight! " giggled Nagisa, who then leaped onto Haru's back and hugged him tight. Rei watched the interaction like he did years ago; Feeling left out. It was like their first year of swim club all over again. Nagisa wanting to sleep with Haru at the training camp, always talking about Haru, always clinging to Haru. His heart clenched, but…

_"If you are going to help us, then I want your first job to shut up and keep your distance."_

The words front he night before rang in his ear again, and so he left the two in their bedroom to retrieve his belongings to his bedroom.

\------------------------------------

 

The rest of the evening has pretty laid back for the most part. Haru insisted on buying mackerel to make in the morning and went on shopping. Nagisa wanted to tag along and followed Haru out the door. Rei was left on his own for a good couple hours with his face stuck to one of the various books he had brought. When the two returned, they lugged in more bags of food then of their luggage. Though, half the food were cakes and treats for Nagisa. 

Later that night, Fujisaki bursted into the room suggesting they all go out to eat for dinner. Fujisaki at least kept the conversations coming and Rei at least had someone to talk to. Again, Haru and Nagisa kept to themselves texting their conversations. He only watched the two, hurt that they are still acting resentful to him. He stared at Nagisa for a while, zoning out of Fujisaki's rambles. The blonde never lifted his head to Rei, but would glance up to lock eyes and avert them back to the phone.

"Nagisa! You're quiet for once!" His producer practically shouted. Nagisa jumped, but didn't dare look up.

"What's wrong? Not feeling well? Maybe you're just hungry? What did you order?" Fujisaki tried to gain answers.

"I-I'm fine. Not much to say, I suppose." he weakly smiled towards his producer.

"Oh! How about this? How do you guys know Rei? Like, are you guys friends?" and everyone's faces paled. Nagisa squirmed a little and he shrunk more into his seat. Haru didn't seem as phased, but appeared uncomfortable. Like he was shown mackerel covered in icing. 

"We were on a swim team in high school." Nagisa and Haru's heads swing to Rei as he continued. 

"Oh! Swim team! I didn't know you swam on a team Nagisa. I kind of already knew that about Haru, being in training and all." Fujisaki seemed interested. 

"At first I was reluctant to join, I mean, why would mammals like us need to swim anyway? But,…" he looked over to his former teammates, hoping some nostalgia would open them up a bit. "Nagisa-kun actually introduced me to the beautiful world of swimming. He showed me how beautiful Haruka-senpai could swim and inspired me to learn. To try. Despite my lack a skill, they all tried to teach me and accepted me into the team. I've-"

  

**SLAM**

  

All eyes looked to Nagisa, who fiercely stood up, palms flat on the table, face covered in his maine of hair. Rei's stomach began to twist in fear of saying too much, or rather anything at all.

"Nagisa-kun-"

"I'm going back. I don't feel good after all." and before anymore words could leave anyone's mouth, Nagisa swiftly made his way out of the restaurant covering himself in a hat and sunglasses. Everyone watched the door in confusion, but Rei also had a hint of pain in his heart as it paced itself to freak out.

"D-Did I say too much? I'm sorry! I-"

"I'll check up on Nagisa." Haru added grabbed any belongings left behind by the other. Moments later, it was only a distressed Rei and a really confused Fujisaki left at the full table of food.

"Diiiiid I miss something?" he questioned. Rei buried his face into his palms, in hopes to disappear and evaporate from the table. Only the clang of the glasses and silverware filled the air as the two sat amount the restaurant of strangers. 

"Hey…" Rei began to break the ice. "How has Nagisa been? And Haruka-senpai? Like,…have they talked about me at all? Have they been happy around you?" 

He kept his head low, so he couldn't the the squinting thoughtful looking on Fujisaki.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come back…" Rei mumbled into his smoothed hands, covering his tear pricked eyes.

"Ooooooh! You're that guy!" Rei's flickered his eyes to Fujisaki in surprise. "I think Makoto actually mentioned you before. When we were recording one of Nagisa's songs, I was curious as all people are, and wanted to know who he might've been talking about in his song. When I asked Nagisa, he brushed it off or changed the subject. Asking Haru was just failing from the start. Don't think that guy really has a liking to me. But Makoto, he would tell me things asking to keep it secret from them." Fujisaki chuckled.

"Wait, what has Makoto-senapi said?" Rei asked curious to what the missing member of the group had to say.

"He mentioned you were really close to Nagisa. How you used to be great friends with them all, but then dropped off the face of the earth. He seemed hurt talking about you. I'm pretty sure he still cares deeply about you too. He told me all the time how he hoped you were doing okay and wished you would talk to them. But now you're here, Makoto is gone, and those two still seem to be upset with you. Kind of a shame really. I think you seem like a good person." 

Amazed that his former senpai still cared for him, Rei eyes lightened. But quickly went dull again.  

"I messed up bad…"

"Yuuuup!" Rei rolled his eyes in his palms at the annoyingly charismatic producer.

"Nagisa was really hurt by what you did though." Rei gave his attention to the man across the table. "When he submitted that song to me, I cried. I felt his pain, the agony of loosing someone close. He even cried performing it for a while."

Guilt only rose like the temperature in Rei's body. He fidgeted himself unsure how how to react.

"So…" began Fujisaki, sudden serious kicking in. "Why did you come back?"

"I…" Stunned silent, Rei needed a moment to form his words of reason.

"I wanted to make up for how I've treated everyone; For what I put Nagisa-kun through. I know what I did was stupid and terrible. My own issues are no excuse anymore. I just want to make things right and at least let everyone know that I'm here for them and I hope to rebuild our friendship. I know at this point it's a lost cause, but…" he trailed off, doubt lingering within the back of his mind and heart. He is now even considering calling Makoto to come back and say he can't do this.

"Hey!" a hand grasped Rei's shoulders and pulled him into attention. "Don't back out now. I want to see what the great "Rei-chan" can do. I've heard you are a hard worker and solve problems head on. I want to see that for myself though. Never give up." 

The words expressed touched Rei. He hasn't been encouraged in a while and knowing someone was, sort of, there for him, and slightly believed in him, made him feel more at ease. He started to believe he could prove to himself as well as the other that he can do this. He can make everything okay.

Rei nodded at his words which seemed to please Fujisaki.

\---------------------------

  

Quietly shutting the door, Rei returned later that night to a dark, empty suite. He tip toed his shoes off and slid his feet across the door to keep quiet as possible. He was about to turn the corner when-

 

**BAM**

 

A shriek so high escaped the mouth of Ryugazaki Rei, yet the other quickly thudded back into a bedroom. With a heart now racing with adrenaline, Rei prepared himself to confront a robber of some sort and skidded across the hallway to reach the room where to person fled into. Leaning in before entering, he heard voices coming from the inside.

"What happened, Nagisa? Why did Rei scream?" the concerning voice of Haru confirmed that he probably bumped into Nagisa in the dark. But with that new knowledge, he felt guilty, yet again, and listened to hear more.

Sadly, it all remained quiet and all Rei could hear was the sounds of controlled breathing. Rei then gave up, not wanting to bother Nagisa for the rest of the night.

 

**End Track 3**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the chapter wasn't that long. I debated on combining chapters 3 and 4, but I thought for the flow with the story, separating would seem best. But on the bright side, chapter 4 only needs a fresh read of edits and it's done. So expect it if not today, sometime this week. No fooling!
> 
> Bonus points if you get where I got Fujisaki from. :)
> 
> Also, I'm on tumblr. Hit me up at kikaescoolio.tumblr.com


	4. Track 4-  I Will Always Be Here For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm not one to talk about his life, so if you want the details, he should be the one to tell you. But for now, take it easy on him and be patient. You getting angry at him is the last thing he needs. But..." He paused a moment to form his words. "Watch over his actions. That is the job I'm giving you. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See! I did it! it's been a week. It would've been sooner, but I got caught up in all the things. But here we are, Chapter 4, Enjoy!

Rei usually woke up relatively early. He was an early riser, naturally, so it didn't bother him so much. He squinted over at the clock on side bed side and saw that it was 6:30AM. He figured it would be a good idea to get up, maybe even make breakfast for everyone or something since it was his first day officially managing over Nagisa. He stretched his way out of bed, made the bed in all his calculations, and strolled to the kitchen area. However, he was startled to find a surprise sprawled on the couch. 

Nagisa was awake, covered in a array of blankets, staring blankly at the tv. Rei had trouble figuring out if Nagisa was even awake or not. 

"Good morning, Nagisa-kun." Rei greeted. Without knowing, his "good morning" broke Nagisa out of his world and forced the blonde to remember how to breathe.

"Jeeeez...." He groaned rubbing his face in annoyance.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"Rei tried to apologize, only to be cut off immediately.

"It's fine." Nagisa snapped, leaving a heavy tension between the two. The blue haired man was clueless as what to do next, so he did the only polite thing he could think of saying.

"A-are you hungry at all? I can make you breakfast if you-"

"No!" Rei was taken back by Nagisa's short answer. Not only did he reject food, but he's never exactly dealt with Nagisa so grumpy before. He reluctantly retreated to the kitchen area to prepare some food in general. He made some for Nagisa and Haru though- Just in case.

Right on time, Haru slowly made his way into the kitchen area, dripping from his morning bath, as per usually. Rei chuckled at yet another nostalgic moment. 

"Haruka-senpai, good morning."

"Morning." He responded to be polite. Haru crouched closer, curious as to what Rei was doing, but then plates were being placed on the table.

"I made everyone breakfast. I made sure to include some mackerel as well, since you had it fully stocked." Rei mentioned. He then turned around finishing breakfast preparations as Haru choose his seat, closest to the mackerel. 

"Thank you." 

Rei almost dropped the rest of the silverware from the shock of the complement. Those words were so rare to hear, Rei was grateful to have it directed towards him.

"Y-You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it." he smiled, very giddy. Before seating himself, his attention went back to the boy on the couch.

"I know you said you didn't want any, but I made a plate for you still, Nagisa-kun." But the blonde only moved himself to look away from Rei. This is now getting to him.

"You know, I understand that we haven't exactly made up at all, but there is no need to be rude and pouty." Rei finally stated annoyed. Nagisa flipped around almost instantly, his face twisted with anger.

"Well, maybe if you'd stop bugging me, it'll be fine!" 

"I'm only trying to help-"

"You're being annoying!"

"Nagisa-kun-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" And the blonde stormed off the couch, blankets in tack, and slammed the door after retreating to his designated room. The scene had Rei sighing, not knowing what else to really do at the moment. He was only trying to help out.

"Don't worry about that." Rei's head almost flew off hearing his former senpai's reassurance.

"I-I don't understand what I did wrong though."

"You didn't do anything. I'm pretty sure it's something else this time. He still has negative feelings to you though, so I'm pretty sure he's just taking it out on you." Amazed at the analysis Haru made, Rei sat close to Haru wanting to know more.

"But, what else could it be then? He doesn't get stressed from this, does he? Is it the tour?"

Haru, eating the mackerel, stopped to answer. "No, if anything it helps him cope."

"Cope?"

"A lot has happened to Nagisa while you were not around. He has a lot of emotions going on inside, causing him to lash out and barely sleep." As Rei was too stunned to talk, Haru further explained himself.

"I'm not one to talk about his life, so if you want the details, he should be the one to tell you. But for now, take it easy on him and be patient. You getting angry at him is the last thing he needs. But..." He paused a moment to form his words. "Watch over his actions. That is the job I'm giving you. If he seems anxious or easily annoyed, he's probably close to breaking. It's best to leave him be so he can calm down on his own. He usually doesn't get there unless something triggers him or he doesn't get a lot of sleep, which is common and what I assumed what happened now."

"That makes sense. He was out on the couch already when I came out this morning." Rei recalled.

"He usually sleeps in, so if he's up early, he didn't sleep at all." Haru clarified.

"But what causes him to stay up?" Haru looked at Rei for a moment not knowing how to answer that.

"Not sure. I assume nightmares, but it might be more." Rei had no idea that Nagisa would be having these kind of issues. He didn't think it was possible, for he has always known Nagisa as the splitting image of endless joy. He had his bad days, sure, but to be plagued with nightmares and for him to be bothered constantly. A familiar wave washed over Rei recalling when Nagisa ran away their second year in high school.

"Thank you for telling me as much as you could, Haruka-senpai." Rei thanked, still understanding in the condition of the blonde.

Haru looked away like he usually would after being personal. "Whatever."

"But what do I do if Nagisa-kun won't eat? Like just now..." He could only picture the distraught twist in Nagisa's face that surfaced only moments ago.

"For now, leave him be. If he gets really hungry later, he'll give in. You practically have to shove it in his face though. He still eats a lot, but when he gets like this he tends to not eat at all. So stay on that."

"Right." Rei was taking all this information in, but his nerves were getting the best of him as he feared he may forget a detail or mess up. Haru must've sensed it though.

"Rei," he started, gaining Rei's full attention. He then slid a card across the table that appeared to have digits on them.

"If I'm not around and you need help or anything with Nagisa, text or call me." Rei's violet eyes widened as he was touched at gaining Haru's number once again.

"Thank you, Haruka-senpai." He smiled and accepted the card. He felt grateful to become some what closer to Haru and Makoto again. However, it pained him at how distant Nagisa was still.

\---------------------- 

 

So on the day's schedule Nagisa had a radio interview at 10am, a photo shoot with a magazine interview at noon, a tv show appearance at 4pm and then practice right after. It was going to a long day. Luckily, Nagisa got out of his room and seemed calm and alive during the radio interview. Though Nagisa was still cold and did the best to ignore the blue-haired man at all cost, Rei was happy to see his emotions didn't disturbed his work. Rei sat back in the booth with Haru, watching as Nagisa interview the radio host.

"So Hazuki-kun, it's great to have you on the show!" the hostess beamed.

"He he! Thank you for having me!" Nagisa thanked, his voice bubbly with glee. It was quite refreshing to hear after what happened this morning.

"So tell us, what inspired some of your songs?"

Nagisa put a thoughtful finger to his face. "Oh well, I'm just very imaginative and sometimes my dreams get really whacky! Like this one dream I had where I was in space and befriended some aliens and eventually crashed landed on earth and the cops questioned us. Haha!"

"Haha, that's a pretty silly dream there." the hostess chuckled.

"You think so?"

The hostess adjusted her sitting to face Nagisa more. "But you get really deep and emotional with some of your other songs too."

"Yeah. We all have those deep feelings, you know? And putting it into songs makes it much more easier to just get those feelings out of you."

"Any stories you want to share about those certain songs?"

And then crack of nerves started to break through Nagisa's calm complex. "Uhh,...no no I'm good. Most are self explanatory anyway-haha..." 

"That's true. You do have a way with words though."

"I-I've been told. Haha." Nagisa's nervous laugh popping up.

"So lets talk more about you! I bet you family is proud to see their son a star." Rei noticed Nagisa's hesitation to the last comment and became instantly concerned.

"Hazuki-kun?"  The hostess was confused at Nagisa's sudden stillness.

"Ah, sorry! Haha- I just got lost in thought! I was wondering what to eat for lunch! Hahaha!" Rei noticed his nervous laughter habit building up.

"Oh, that's funny. Did you eat breakfast before you came?"

"Haha no. My bad..." He rubbed his head sheepishly. The Hostess, luckily, just went with it and avoided bringing up the topic again.

The rest of the interview flew by just fine. Soon enough, it ended with announcing the Niigata concert date and the rest of the tour. Once they were done, Nagisa exited the recording booth swiftly.

"Nagisa-kun, you did great in there." Rei complemented, hoping it could help boost Nagisa's mood in the slightest.

"Uh huh." He replied softly. Rei's brows furrowed.

"Are you okay-"

"I'm fine! Just...I need to go the bathroom." And he walked briskly out of the booth. Rei sighed in defeat as Haru watched from behind. It ended up being a while before Nagisa even came back, so they had to rush to get to the photo shoot.

\---------------------------------

 

Nagisa seemed much better and looked like he was having fun at the photo shoot. Rei didn't think it was fake or anything either, but he noticed during a few mini breaks how tired he was getting. Rei watched as Nagisa would pose, laugh, or even smile through it all though. Warmth ghosted on his cheeks as he watched, but then he shook it off. Eventually, the shoot was over and they could take a 15 minute break before the magazine interview began. Rei noticed how fidgety the blonde seemed to be and assumed he was getting nervous again.

"Nagisa-kun, do you want a snack or anything?"

Nagisa bent his head down a bit lower. "I-I'm okay..." 

"I'm sure you'll be fine in the interview." Rei tried to boost his confidence.

"Okay." 

"And you don't need to worry about-"

"I said okay!" Nagisa snapped. A little offended, Rei was about to snap right back, but he heard Haru's words in his head and stopped himself. He took a deep breathe and tried once more.

"Do you need-"

"NO! Just-just- leave me be! Okay? Just let me breathe!" Nagisa walked off away from everything, leaving Rei to his failing attempt.

Then the magazine interview started. Nagisa started tense, but when he got a feel for the flow of questions he looked to be having fun again. Most of question were personal ones such as favorite foods, hobbies, and such. Nagisa even told them the story of starting the swim club back in high school. Nagisa had beamed so bright reminiscing those days. 

It was getting towards the end when it was the final question.

"Alright, well we are just about done. But I just have one more question."

"Sure thing!" chimed Nagisa.

"Who would you like to thank for your success? Is there anyone special you'd like to acknowledge?" Nagisa froze for a moment, but went into thought mode. Rei feared that this may have bothered the blond, but he started to talk again.

"I'd actually like to thank... my friends. Haru-chan and Mako-chan." He smiled up and continued. "I'm glad I get the chance to acknowledge them, because they deserve it. They work hard to make sure I'm okay and have sacrificed so much for me…I couldn't be more grateful to have them in my life." He looked over to Haru, who turned his head the other way to conceal his light blush, making the blonde giggle.

"I think that's a very generous thing of you to say. I'm sure they are grateful of you too."

"Haha, I don't know how they feel, but they must care about me a lot to stick by me this long." 

"Well, I guess this is a rap. Thank you for your time, Hazuki-kun."

"Thank you for having me!"

And they were done. Nagisa was free until he had to be on the tv show later that day. Rei cautiously approached up to Nagisa with Haru following behind.

"Nagisa." The blonde's attention migrated to Haru, his expression softened down upon him.

"Thank you." Nagisa's smile expanded and he almost knocked Haru over with his massive hug attack.

"Thank you for everything, Haru-chan! I love you!" He smiled. Haru looked at Rei, who was grinning with relief that all was okay. Haru adjusted his head back to Nagisa, still gripping onto him and nuzzling with his fluff of hair.

"We should get going to the tv station." Nagisa stopped and agreed with Haru. Once he freed him from his squeeze, they all began their way to the tv station, but the fatigue was catching up with Nagisa. This wasn't unnoticed by the other two. 

\-------------------------------------------------

 

Once their, Nagisa was instantly thrown into getting ready. Going by the hesitation and silence Nagisa presented, Rei could tell this was getting a bit a much for him.

"Would you like a snack or anything at all, Nagisa-kun?" Rei offered yet again. At first Nagisa didn't register that Rei even spoke, but then it clicked a minute later.

"Huh- did you say something?" Nagisa's eye lids seemed to be dropping and he was taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay? You seem to be exhausted."

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yes!" The blue-haired man was at a lost as to what to do. Haru then stepped up next to Nagisa.

"Nagisa, you shouldn't be over doing things. Especially if you didn't sleep well." 

"I said I'm fine, Haru-chan! You guys keep asking that and it's making me more freaked out!" Nagisa was shaking and seemed close to tears.

"Nagisa, just-."

"Nagisa-kun-"

"SHUT UP! Just shut up, okay!? Lets just get this done and over with!" And he stormed off to the bathroom again. Rei frowned watching the blonde go to isolate himself yet again.

"He'll come around." Haru sighed. Rei was now getting frustrated.

"You keep saying that but-" 

"He's not going to last much longer."

"But doesn't he have medicine for this kind of thing? Why doesn't he just take that?"

"He's afraid of them." Rei stopped at that, his expression lowered.

"Afraid?"

"His medication is pretty powerful, but really addicting. He's scared that even if he takes it once, he could get hooked. So he tries to fight it as best he can." 

Beginning to feel useless, Rei kept looking to where Nagisa ran out and back to Haru.

"Leave him be for now." Haru turned the other direction and Rei slowly followed suit.

\---------------------------------------

 

Eventually, the show began and Nagisa presented himself to be content, but his exhaustion was really starting to show throughout his body. He was fighting to stay awake and be cheery, but it was wearing on him.

"So, Hazuki-kun, are you excited for your tour? It's your first one right?"

"Mmhm! It's exciting" he replied lightly. 

"So I want to talk about your new hit single. First, let me say how amazing it is!" The host spoke excited about it, causing the crowd cheer.

"Oh, thank you!" 

"Now let me ask you, was this about a lover of some sorts?"  

Nagisa's magenta eyes widened and stilled. "I-I…uhh" He muttered.

"You mention in the song that the person left you behind and how they were gone for good. Tell us more about that if that's okay." 

The blond then leaned forward a bit and held himself. His breathing increasing. "Uhhhh,...." He started to fidget around with his legs, crossing and uncrossing them. He focused down at his lap.

"Oh, was that a sensitive subject? My apologizes, Hazuki-kun!"

"I-it's fine…really..." He spoke in breathes. Off to the side, Rei noticed that Nagisa was trying to control his breathing. This was starting to get really painful for Rei to just sit back and watch. They continued to talk back and forth as Nagisa was doing his best to calm down, replying in short words.

"Is everything okay, Hazuki-kun?" The host asked, now getting concerned.

"I-I-what?! I mean, uh, I-I'm fine I'm fine!" He was starting to slip.

"Are you sure? Do you need water or anything?"

"Uh, yeah... I could. Haha-sorry. I have been all over so, ahahaha. And- and my stomach is feeling icky and- heh heh heh." Nagisa tried to shake it off as he was shaking. He quickly recieved water from a back stage member and thanked the staff.

"You must be nervous being in tv. This is your first time, is it not?" The host tried to continue on.

"Ah, yeah…." the empty cup now crushed in his grip. "I-I haven't been on tv much before….so yeah, haha I'm….I'm sorry."

"Don't be! You're a rising star and I'm sure you'll be used to it in no time!" The host cheered him on as well as the crowd. He smiled, but his heart still was racing inside. Within the next 30 seconds, the show ended. Once the hostess was done concluding the show, Nagisa stood immediately and bolted off stage. He floated away backstage in a blur and didn't register that Rei had been calling out to him. His breathing was getting hard again and he was still a tad jittery.

Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder and Nagisa shrieked. He didn't know how to respond, so he covered his face and back up to a wall.

"N-Nagisa-ku-"

"Go away! Just go away! Please!" Nagisa cried out behind his palms. His body vibrated violently and some whimpering escaping from his throat. People started to gather at the scene and that even made Rei uncomfortable. Their words echoing off each other only caused the shaking boy to curl into himself more. Rei then grabbed Nagisa by his shoulders and in a rush, directed him through the crowd into a quiet secluded room. No windows, no sound. Just the two of them with the only noises radiating from the blonde.

"Nagisa-kun…" Rei's tone soft and gentle. "Raise your hands up, please."

Dispite the calmness in his voice, Nagisa shook his head in protest.

"Then breathe with me." and Rei began to take deep breathes. This eventually gained the boy's attention and he observed what Rei was doing.

"Rei-chan?" He waited for the taller of the two to respond.

"I want you to breathe with me." Rei requested again. "Close your eyes and take deep breaths with me, okay?" Nagisa stilled for a moment, but nodded back.

"Okay now...breathe-" and the two intake a deep breathe. "And release..." And exhaled. "Again, breathe.... And release..." both harmonized in breathing. This carried on for a couple minutes, until Rei felt it would be okay to stop. "Last time, breathe-" and a deep breathe they took. "And release..." He opened his eyes to sparkling magenta ones staring back at him, filled with both calmness and surprise.

The blue-haired man smiled back. "You did great. Well done, Nagisa-kun."

Rei's eyes never deceived him, but he could've sworn he saw a twinkle of awe in Nagisa's eyes.

"Everything is going to be okay today. We'll go back to the hotel room, you can get a bath, some food, and take a nap if you want." 

The statement added a confused look to Nagisa's face. "But- I still have practice to-"

"It's fine. You can practice tomorrow. Haruka-kun agreed to this too and informed Fujisaki-kun. You need sleep, you need food and you've been pushing yourself all day." Part of Nagisa wanted to argue back, but at this point he had to agree. His stomach ached for a while now and his body and eyes weren't going to last much longer. He agreed in defeat.

"Good. Lets go. Haruka-senpai is waiting for us." As Rei placed his hand on the knob of the door, he heard a soft voice interrupt.

"I messed up today..." 

This took Rei off guard. "Messed up?"

"I...I freaked out...on tv...I made a fool of myself..." This lack of confidence from the smaller male worried Rei. From what he recalled, Nagisa was always going through life head on; Never afraid to do anything or fear of whatever the outcome would be. But now he is looking at the same person, years later, doubting himself in front of him for the first time.

"I'm going to tell you what I honestly think." Rei started. Nagisa face scrunched, worried about the criticism he was about to get.

"You didn't mess up. If I have the theory of marketing down, I feel you actually did a great job of that. Your image already is seen as a youthful, cute boy and showing that you have some secrets from the world makes people more curious about you and your life. Especially if its about your songs, as popular and powerful as your hit single is. Also, presenting the shyness you did only really sold your cuteness even more, I believe..." Rei trailed off when he turned to Nagisa, whose eyes were so wide and filled with glimmering hope again. A slight blush was potted upon Nagisa as he was touched by Rei's words.

"Rei's right." Nagisa and Rei both turned to their attention to Haru, who apparently walked into the room unnoticed.

"Haru-chan?" Nagisa gasped surprised at not only the sudden entrance of the raven-haired man, but the confidence the two had in him.

"All Rei said was true. I think it'll work out in the end."

"You shouldn't worry. Have faith in yourself." Rei smiled leaving the blonde speechless.

\----------------------------------------------

 

The door swung open with ease, making way for Rei to direct Nagisa to the couch to sit him down. He quickly grabbed a glass of water and demanded Nagisa drink it all. Once he chugged the water down, he returned the cup to Rei.

"Now, I can run a bath for you if that's oka-" and Nagisa slide his whole body on the couch.

"Ah- Nagisa-kun! You should go to your bed to sleep! The couch isn't as comfy as-"

"Too tired...already comfy..." he curled up into the couch. Rei sighed as he knew he lost the battle, but then chuckled as it reminded him how Nagisa used to do this when he'd go over to Rei's place after swim practice during high school. He'd practically take over Rei's bed and sometimes sleep until the next morning (since Rei let him of course).

He then left the room only to come back a moment later with a blanket to cover the now sleeping boy. The blonde stirred a little as Rei tucked him in, but then mumbled some incoherent nonsense only then to start lightly snoring once again. Rei couldn't take his eyes off Nagisa's sleeping form, as creepy as he felt. Just looking at how his facial expression soften, how is curly hair lightly laid on his fair skin, how his mouth would be open just a tad bit and showed his cute frontal teeth, how small he looked under the blanket…

Rei quickly shook the thoughts away. He understood that he still cared for Nagisa, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. Though looking down at Nagisa, he was discovering why he fell for the boy in the first place.

"Hey-" A some-what high pitched yelped escaped Rei when he spotted Haru on the other side of the couch, watching Rei this entire time.

"Ha-haruka-senpai?"

"Since Nagisa isn't taking a bath right now, I am. Just thought I'd let you know." He held his towel by his side. Rei knew he'd be a while.

"O-oh! Okay! I'll probably start making done dinner then."

"Okay." Haru then looked to the couch. "He asleep?" 

"Yes. He should be fine, I believe." Haru hummed in response, before retreating to the bathroom. Rei then motivated himself to start dinner. 

\---------------------------------------------

 

By the time dinner was just about done, Haru was done his bath and walked into the kitchen area to find Rei scrambling everywhere. 

"You want me to help with anything?" He offered. Not sensing his presence, Rei jumped, almost dropping the pan he was cooking with.

"Haruka-senpai! You surprised me!" 

"Do you need help with anything?" He asked again more firmly. Violet eyes shimmered as he was taken back by the offer. 

Rei smiled at the generous offer. "Thank you, but I have everything just about done..." 

"Want me to set the table?" 

"Ah! I forgot about that!" And before he could respond, Haru grabbed the plates and bowls and started setting up. About 15 minutes, later everything was ready. Rei then walked over to the couch to find Nagisa still sleeping, but now cuddling the couch pillow. He was smiling slightly in his sleep, which broke Rei's heart with the thought of disturbing his sleep. He lightly shook him in an attempt to wake him gently. He wanted to make sure he'd have food in him sometime today.

"Nagisa-kun....time to wake up...I made some food..." He cooed quietly in hopes not to startle him. Slowly he stirred, opening his eyes. He looked exhausted and his bed head only showed it more. He rubbed his eyes before releasing a giant yawn.

"C'mon. Dinner is all ready." Rei then walked over to the table where Haru was already seated, close to the mackerel yet again. Nagisa took a moment to follow and sat with them. Once they gave their thanks for the food, they began to eat. Nagisa slowly took a bite when his eyes grew and lightly gasped through his nose.

"What wrong?" Rei asked.

"It's...it's really good!" He smiled. Rei's heart sped up a little when he heard Nagisa's comment. 

"I-it is?"

"Yes!" And he started eating in a more excited and faster pace. Like how he used to eat. Rei started lightly laughing.

"Thank goodness." He was smiling throughout dinner and offered Nagisa a second and even a third serving, which the blonde accepted gratefully. He still didn't talk much to Rei during dinner (though he had food in his mouth most of the time), but he did smile more and thanked him.

Finally, dinner was over and Rei was left to clean up from it. He then heard light footprints approaching him.

"Rei-chan..." He stopped scrubbing a plate to look at a now freshly cleaned anddripping wet Nagisa. 

"What's wrong, Nagisa-kun?" 

He stumbled when trying to put together what he wanted to say, but looked away in embarrassment. "I....I wanted to thank you...for dinner and all-oh and for early! I want to thank you for...for dealing with my bratty-ness and...I'm sorry for getting angry at you. You were trying to help, so...it wasn't fair that I took it out on you....it's just...." He hesitated.

"It's okay. I understand why you did and... I wouldn't blame you. You have a lot of things built up inside and I can tell you've been holding back." Nagisa pouted knowing Rei was right.

"However," he continued gaining the boy's attention. "I recommend you don't do that anymore. If you need to talk or have someone around you or anything, Haruka-senpai is here for you, Makoto-senpai is here for you and...I'm here as well. You can talk to any of us about anything. That's why we are here with you. To help you in anyway we can." Rei turned to look at Nagisa, who stared back at full attention.

"So, promise me this..." Nagisa and Rei met eyes and locked in each other for the first time in years. "Don't build up your feels anymore, okay?" 

Magenta and Violet eyes reflected one another as the promise was being made. Nagisa broke off the contact and looked to the ground conflicted.

"O-Okay." He responded. Rei blinked as he couldn't believe Nagisa agreed, let alone responded. He felt relief wash over him. The blonde was always good for his word.

"Thank you. Now, you should head to bed. You didn't sleep for long earlier, so you must be tired." As if on cue, Nagisa yawned and rubbed his dropping eyes.

"Yeah. Ummm, goodnight…Rei-chan." 

"Goodnight Nagisa-kun." And Nagisa was off to his assigned bedroom, closing the door gently behind him. Releasing a big sigh, Rei couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement that his relationship between Nagisa is improving, even if it was a little.

 

**End Track 4**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Improvement! I hope this came out okay. If I missed typos or made mistakes of the sort, my bad. I tired.
> 
> As for the next chapter, hopefully that'll come out soon. I won't keep you waiting!
> 
> Also, Bonus points if you knew that Nagisa's astronaut dream was based off images in the future fish ending. (Specifically the one picture of him floating in space with the aliens and the other being when he crashed into the street and Rin is holding the alien. Rin was the cop in his dream by the way!)
> 
> Also, I'm on tumblr. Hit me up at kikaescoolio.tumblr.com


	5. Track 5- Our Next Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There in the single spot light on the stage among the now annoyed crowd was the blonde, shaking as if it were cold out there alone and eyes wide and glassy. He gazed upon the intimidating stares coming from the audience. He took a step back and stumbled onto his butt, causing him to drop to mic and release a loud disturbance from the speakers. The crowd hushed and whined of the intensidy of the noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm alive! And I know I said I'd have this up before Halloween and I'm sorry for that false hope. :(
> 
> Work literally got in the way all week. Where I thought I'd have time, I end up working 12 hours days and not being able to keep my eyes open past 8pm. Also, I'm working on a webcomic as well so I'm normally all over that. Its a busy time of my life. T_T 
> 
> But I'm back, and I want to try to update this more often not only so you guys don't hate me, but because I forgot all that happened last chapter and I had to figure out where I was going. Oh, life lessons in writing.
> 
> Just want to shout out a thank you for the people who have been giving great response to the story and have been enjoying this story! You all rock!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter!

Finally, the night of the next concert is upon them. The crowds booming with enthusiasm, filling the stadium with their love and recently bought merchandise. Of course, Nagisa is the starting act to the show and is being pampered with makeup artists and hair dressers at the moment. Rei waits off to the side, observing the process of dressing up the up and coming super star. 

The blonde seemed to be fine for the most part though. He practiced early to make up for the other day's little situation and didn't hold back or slack. Now, he is having the hair spray being sprayed into his face as he coughs away the scent.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't spray your mouth, did I?" the hair dresser frantically checked.

"No. No. Its just a powerful scent. I'm okay!" he beamed up to reassure her. Rei's face softened watching the interaction and seeing the smaller man having a better day than the day before.

A knock on the door was heard to warn them as well as a call telling them they are about to enter the room. A man poked his head in giving the 5 minute mark until Nagisa goes on. Once the hair dresser and make up artist were satisfied with their work, they cooed over how beautiful the Nagisa looked. Of course, Nagisa was excited about the praise and suggested a selfie with the two. As they took multiple variations, Haru walks in silently and casually strolls up next to Rei.

"How's he doing?" he checks up. He has been in and out throughout the day.

"He's been doing very well today. I feel this show will be a big success. How's Makoto-senpai doing?" Rei knew Haru's absents have been due to checking up on the other senpai.

"He's doing fine. His mom is doing okay now. He said he could probably come back within a week or so."

"Is he sure? Will he be okay to work? Will his mother be okay?"

"He said he'll stay as long as he needs to, but Ren and Ran can handle it from there." The names of the twins sparked Rei's memory.

"Oh right! How are they doing?"

"In high school. They both wanted to be on the swim team. Ran might even be captain by next year."

"Really? Thats quite amazing." Rei awed and paused for a moment; A giggle arose the next. "I remember them being so little."

"They clung to Makoto and I a lot. They even took interest in you too, right?"

"I remember that. "Big Brother Butterfly" I believed they called me."

"Rei-chan was then going to kidnap them after the swimming event, right?"

Rei gawked at the sudden comment from the bubbling blonde now next to them. "N-Nagisa-kun-"

"Don't even think about it, Rei." Haru warned. "Makoto will go after you if you kidnap Ren and Ran."

"I never even considered doing that in the first place!" Rei cried out. Nagisa chuckled at his success at teasing the blue-haired man, so it didn't bother Rei much. It was almost like how things used to be, though Nagisa is probably only like this because he is excited about the show.

"Relax, Rei-chan. Here! Let's take a photo of us!" and Nagisa squeezed between the two and took the picture. Once he choose one he liked after multiple photos, he cheered. "I'm going to send it to Mako-chan!" 

Just then, the door opens. 

"Hazuki-kun, you're on now." The man closed the door before hearing Nagisa's frantic "EH?!"

"It hasn't been five minutes already, right?" and he handed his phone to Haru, telling him to take good care of it. The three made their way to back stage with the process of going over the set list to play and cue to go out on stage. Just then, the lights dimmed and the crowd roared in anticipation. Right before the curtain, Nagisa stilled. Out of the corner of Rei's eye, he noted the hesitation on the other's face. But a deep breathe, a smack on the face with his own clammy hands, and Nagisa was ready. He bounced his way on stage with great excitement and the noise intensified.

"Hi, everyone!" Nagisa loudly greeted without a microphone. He then picked up the lone mic on the stand and proceed to talk to the crowd. "Whose ready to have some fun?" The echoes of screams filled the room. This caused the blonde to awe at the crowd and giggle at the reaction. 

"Well, I'm ready too. Lets go!" and the beat is dropped and the concert begins. Rei watches from a far and sees that this concert seems to be going better than the last one. Nagisa shined brighter, even when the spot light wasn't on him. It was like he was the sun, waking up the crowd and being so bright that you feel warm and at home. 

Rei shook his head snapping out of his train of thought. He decided to look else where for the time being. Haru was off to the side on the phone, yet again. Rei chuckled and admired his senpai's constant worrying over the brunette back at home with his mom. He looked the other way, Fujisaki watching the show and nodding in approval. This was a good day, Rei concludes. This is turning out so well that yesterday seems like a far off dream or something.

Thirty minutes into the concert and Nagisa is still going strong. Vocals powerful and on key, his body still flailing in ridiculous , yet fluid, motions, his smile and sparkle still plastered to his face. Rei felt a sense of accomplishment with the success of the concert. 

It was now time for the last song, and as Nagisa chugged his water bottle on stage, he let out a content sigh and cleared his throat to finish the show. 

"Alright, we're down to the last song, but stay tuned! There is more of the show and the next guy coming up his very cool! I hope you have a great rest of the concert!" The audience cheered on once again, giving Nagisa his cue to start the last song.

However, the music never started. Nagisa waited, he looked to the backstage for any clue, but no one knew what was going on. Rei approached a now frustrated Fujisaki.

"What's going on?"

"Damn! The circuit blew and the instrumental can't be heard. I don't know if we could get on some mics and maybe have them near the instruments, but that doesn't really help the keyboardist. Not to mention, the next act won't seem to have instruments if this keeps up and I assume we'd need a 30 minute intermission-" as Fujisaki continued his rant of concern, Rei eyed back to Nagisa on stage and a pang of hurt shot him in his heart.

There in the single spot light on the stage among the now annoyed crowd was the blonde, shaking as if it were cold out there alone and eyes wide and glassy. He gazed upon the intimidating stares coming from the audience. He took a step back and stumbled onto his butt, causing him to drop to mic and release a loud disturbance from the speakers. The crowd hushed and whined of the intensidy of the noise. 

Rei couldn't take more of what was unraveling in front of his eyes, so he sprints out on stage without warning. However, by the time is visible on stage for all to see, he starts to feel a little regretful. He turns to face Nagisa, now looking up at him, his brows low, his eyes sparking signs of hope and fear. Rei found his strength as he strode his way straight to the smaller male on the floor and held out his hand to help him up. Causiously, Nagisa stares at the calloused hand contemplating whether to trust it or not. 

But he grabs. He takes Rei's offer and is back on his feet again.

"Try it without the instruments" Nagisa's attention now focused on blue-haired man in front of him.

"Do you think you can sing acoustically? That way you can finish the last song out." Rei suggests. Nagisa's eyes dart to the floor, deciding if he can or not.

"I know you can do it." Rei finally ends it and makes his way off stage, hoping he wasn't too much of a distraction.

"What on earth were you doing-" Fujisaki started to scold Rei for his actions, but was interrupted when he heard the mic being picked up. All eyes are on the singer int he spotlight as they take a deep breathe and begin.

 

 

_Guess some things don't work out like you plan_

 

 

The voice so soft it silenced the entire arena.

 

 

_I'm going through a lot you wouldn't understand_

 

 

This song seemed new to Rei. He was wondering if he had ever heard it on the radio or maybe he skipped the track.

 

"I-Is he coming up with a song on the spot?" he over heard Fujisaki mutter. Astounded, Rei listened closer to Nagisa's words.

 

 

_You can see me up here_

_and i'm trying to be clear_

_I won't let the light disappear_

 

_I can see you all_

_and I feel like I could fall_

_flat on the ground_

_overwhelming with no sound_

 

_I try to be strong_

_I try to be brave_

_but all I end up is right where I stay_

_I can't do this no more_

_I can't do this no more_

 

_I want to live_

_I want breathe_

_I need that air_

_this isn't fair_

_why don't you see_

_I need to be free_

 

_I need to be free_

 

 

A sensation started to fill Rei, causing him to feel warm and have shivers down his spine. Nagisa paused briefly before continuing on.

 

 

_Thoughts I once had back again_

_I start to wonder if it'll end_

 

_but I try my best to not loose hope_

_tired that all i do is mope_

_I confined to this rope_

 

_you have to be strong_

_you have to be brave_

_but you seem to be stuck right in place_

_you can't do this no more_

_we all can't do this no more_

 

_I want to live_

_I want breathe_

_I need that air_

_this isn't fair_

_why don't you see_

_I need to be free_

 

 

Humming was then incorporated to replace whatever musical break popped into Nagisa's head, but the humming was sweet like a lullaby.

 

 

_That feel of sunshine in my hair_

_my smell of something in the air_

_The kind that defeats my despair_

_so I don't care_

_I don't care_

 

_I want to live_

_I want breathe_

_I need that air_

_this isn't fair_

_why don't you see_

_I need to be free_

 

_I need to be free_

 

 

A slight pause.

 

 

_I need to be free_

 

 

He looked up to the crowd and whispered the last line.

 

 

_Just let me live free_

 

 

Applause released from the audience as well as some whistles and cheering. After witnessing the sudden change, the tension seemed to melt off the blonde's shoulders and he weakly smiled out and waved his exit off the stage as it faded to black.

Backstage, Fujisaki immediately jumped Nagisa. "My gosh, kid! I didn't knew you had that in you! Great recovery! And on the bright side, I think the technical error has resolved itself. Turns out someone messed up some wires whether it was from walking or what."

The producer continued on, but Nagisa paid no mind. Soon enough, Haru and Rei approached them.

"You did great out there Nagisa-kun!" Rei congratulated.

"The song on the spot was really good too." Haru added. However, neither got a response back. Rei looked down at Nagisa only to find him appearing very exhausted and done.

"Nagisa-"

"I'm going to the bathroom." Nagisa quickly caught off Rei and made a B-line towards the restrooms. A sigh escaped Fujisaki's mouth.

"Jeez, that must've been rough on him. I'd be terrified too if that happened to me one stage. Hell, I was terrified watching from the sidelines." Haru and Rei paid no mind to the producer and stared at the direction the blonde took off, wearing the same pained expression.

"Well, I'll go check on the bus. We are leaving this city tonight to move on to the next tour location." Fujisaki awkwardly stated. Before leaving the two, he turned to face them seriously. "One of you go check on him, please?" and he made his leave. Without words, both moved forward to the bathroom doors and waited on the other side. 

A half hour passed with no signs of life exiting the room. Haru and Rei are leaned against the wall on both sides of the bathroom door.

"Should we check on him?" Rei questioned with concern. 

"Maybe." was all Haru responded. Rei decided he himself can handle this, so he faces the bathroom door and knocks.

"Nagisa-kun, are you alright?"

No response. He tries again.

"Nagisa-kun?"

Still nothing.

"Haruka-senpai-" Rei started to panic, but the raven haired man stopped him.

"Go in." Rei didn't question it a second time, so he entered the public restroom to find three stalls. He peered underneath to find a pair of brightly colored shoes at the last stall. He approached said stall and the lightly knocked.

"Nagisa-kun…is everything okay?"

Nothing. Nothing but…a light snore? Rei decided to peek under the stall door and found that Nagisa had fallen asleep sitting in the stall. He still had pants on, thank goodness, so its not like he fell asleep going to the bathroom. Rei crawled underneath the stall to open the door and gently pick up the sleeping boy. He stirred a little when being lifted into Rei's arms, but instinctively nuzzled into his chest. Rei had to remind himself how to breath after feeling the sensation of Nagisa's nuzzles. 

He managed to get out of the bathroom, Haru giving Rei a questioning look.

"He fell asleep in the bathroom stall." Rei clarified as Haru hummed in acknowledgment. 

Within the next hour, Fujisaki found them and moved them onto the bus to get on the road again. Nagisa still slept soundly in Rei's arms and although this may tire Rei's arms out, he couldn't care less. He caught himself staring at the blonde's sleeping face, how peaceful and soft it looked. However, he would snap out of the trace from the random road bumps or Fujisaki taunting him when he'd catch him doing so.

The next bump that moved the bus though seemed to disturbed Nagisa's sleep, erupting moans from this throat. 

"Nagisa-kun?" Rei lightly asked, wondering if the bump woke him up. 

"Mmmm…why do you have a turtle shell….?" Nagisa mumbled into Rei's shirt as he switched positions. Rei's face dropped in confusion.

"What the- What are you talking about Nagisa-kun?" Rei's voice rose, gaining Haru and Fujisaki's attention now.

"I know it'll better your times, but it looks silly…." Nagisa continued to slur out. Suddenly it hit Rei.

"Are you…sleep talking?" he asked at loud, even though it was unnecessary, yet Nagisa responded.

"Rei-chan, if you wear the slimly instead you'll be faster than a flying fish…." he trailed off.

"What on earth is he talking about?" Fujisaki added in.

"Sounds like Iwatobi swim club." Haru concluded. It was all coming back to Rei. They had many attempts to try to increase Rei's times in swimming, though the ideas were a bit farfetched. Rei shudders at the thought of the slime Nagisa once managed to get on him.

"Those must've been great times for all of you." smiled Fujisaki. 

"Yeah…" Rei started. "It was…"

"I miss those days sometimes." Rei's head flips in super speed hearing Haru speak so sentimental. 

"The pool was nice, I got to see everyone having fun each day, the pool was nice-"

"You already said that, Haruka-senpai."

"But that's because its true." Rei stared at Haru trying to understand what he meant by that. Haru got the hint though. "Fixing up that pool…it's something I cherish. Makoto, Nagisa, and I worked hard making it look its best." Haru's deep blue eyes meant with Rei's royal purple ones.

"That's why the pool was nice." he concluded. Before anyone could remark to Haru's deep moment, another voice spoke up.

"Let's go swimming." All head look to Nagisa, still asleep in Rei's arms.

"Let's go swimming again…with Haru-chan, Mako-chan, and Rei-chan…." Haru and Rei both were surprised to hear that, but smiled fondly at the thought of swimming together again. However, Nagisa wasn't quite done taking.

"And with all the rock hopper penguins too!" he smiled as he sleep talked whatever ridiculous dream he was having. Everyone on the bus ended up laughing at the added bit, but stopped when they noticed Nagisa waking up.

"Hm?...Wh-Whats going on? Where am I?" Nagisa groaned, rubbing his one. However, once he registered where is he was and who was holding him, he flew out of Rei's arms.

"Is something wrong, Nagisa-kun?" Rei seemed so confused as to what was going on. But the deep magenta hint in Nagisa's eyes notified Rei that Nagisa was not happy with him. 

"Nagisa, you okay?" Fujisaki added in, but Nagisa completely ignored him and stormed off to the back of the bus. All was quiet, all was still. Haru suddenly stood and made his way to Nagisa. Rei could hear the distressed whispers coming out of Nagisa and now he was alarmed he did something wrong.

"Maybe…"Fujisaki started causing to gain Rei's attention. "You're taking things to fast with the kid. He's really sensitive to that kind of thing, you know. Maybe we should've said something, but I don't know." And Rei borrowed his head in his hands.

Did he mess up somehow?

 

\-----------------------------

 

It was 3am by the time the made it to Ishikawa. The next concert was set to play in 3 days so the game plan Fujisaki was discussing on the bus ride was a day of rest when they checked into the hotel. An interview, as well as a photo shoot, for a music magazine was scheduled the next day. The day after is a full day of practice and equipment checks. And finally, the day of the concert is a practice and double checking equipment. Fujisaki also wanted Nagisa to try to remember the random song he pulled off and turn that into an encore. 

However, while discussing all this, the star of the show was no where to be found until they parked the bus. Rei was about to go find Nagisa when the bathroom door on the bus slammed him flat in his face. Holding his throbbing face, Rei groaned and out of the corner of his eyes saw blonde locks quickly whoosh by him without an apology or acknowledgement. The attitude the young star was producing was throwing Rei in a loop. He thought he was making good progress to get on Nagisa's good side, but now he goes through what all happened yesterday to see what he did wrong.

Did he smile wrong in the selfie? Was it when he helped him on stage? Was it holding him while he slept? 

He was leaning towards that and if he was honest with himself, he didn't even register he was holding Nagisa for that long. He could've set him on the seat to sleep, but no. He was the blonde's personal body pillow and he let that happen. As he exited the bus, he considered that he over stepped his boundaries. But, Haru never mentioned anything to him, so did he? 

A flick to his temple brought Rei back to reality. 

"You, my friend, really need some sleep." Fujisaki teased. Pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes, Rei moaned in agreement. Maybe he did. Maybe sleep would settle his mind and really help him calculate his error with Nagisa. 

Apparently, spacing out made Rei a tad lost and Haru and Nagisa were no where in sight. After 15 minutes of elevator tag and reading the room card key wrong, Rei made it to their new suite for the next couple days. He opened the door and instantly caught a wif of fried mackerel. Confused, Rei walked to the kitchen area to find Haru, already frying the fish in his favorite apron. Suit cases stacked by the door meant he only unpacked what he needed for the time being. But making mackerel at three in the morning is a little too much.

"Haruka-senpai, isn't it a little too early to make mackerel?" Rei yawned. His eyes seemed to be getting heavier by the minute, but he watched as he never got a response from the cook. Haru finished up the fish and made up three plates full of mackerel and rice.

"We haven't eaten in a while." he stated. Rei completely forgot that with the concert being a buzz of commotion they hadn't eaten anything since earlier yesterday. Didn't they vote to stop at a shop on the way to this city?

Haru undressed himself of his apron and glided past Rei.

"Haruka-senpai, wait!" Rei spoke a little louder than he should've, but it got the older boy's attention. "Did…did I mess up tonight….with Nagisa-kun?" he trailed the last into a whisper of uncertainty. Haru was motionless for a moment, unchanging facial expression, and then turned to face Rei.

"Do you think you did?" he asked back.

"I don't know! Everything was fine until on the bus, I suppose, and now Nagisa is ignoring me and most definitely upset at me." Haru turned to walk to the rooms. 

"I'll go ask." and at the first door on the left, he stopped, knocked, and warned Nagisa he was coming in as he entered. 

Rei must've waited about a minute when Haru emerges from the room alone. Unfortunately for Rei, Haru has harder expressions to read so he has no idea how it went in there. Haru stops in front of Rei and pauses.

"You messed up." Rei's heart avalanched down to his gut and he swore he heard something crack inside him.

"W-What did I do wrong?! Was I overbearing?! Was I too forward on stage?! What?!"

Haru looked at him as if trying to form what to say.

"Why were you holding him when he was asleep?" Rei knew it. He had a big pang telling him it was that.

"I- I just- I forgot I was even holding him- no, wait that sounds bad and stupid- I know he was holding to my shirt?- No! I won't blame Nagisa-kun, but I just- I just-" his chest was getting tight and he could feel warm liquid filling the corners of his eyes.

"He was just uncomfortable with that. No need to over react-" Haru started, but Rei was beyond that point.

"Overreact!? Its a little hard to do when I don't know how to act or approach Nagisa-kun or anything at this point! Calculations, they don't apply to this! It's like swimming all over again and I don't think I can wrap my mind around the concept of what to do in this situation." A small tear escaped the corner of his aching eye.

"I- I don't even know what to do. I want to be the best I can for Nagisa-kun, for you and Makoto-senpai. I've messed up so much so far that the hole I've dug for myself only seems to be caving in. I just feel so-so-" Rei had to remove his eyes to wipe his eyes and hide his redden face. Crying in front of his senpai was just another screw up in his mind and he's silently preparing for his senpai to tell him to get out and don't try this again.

"You said this was like swimming, and you managed to learn how to swim." Haru started. Rei looked up at him straight into his navy blue eyes, tears still rolling over his cheeks.

"Eat and sleep. Tomorrow, I'm taking you to the pool." 

Rei didn't know how to react. The suggestion was really random, but I understands where this water lover is getting at. He nods and listens. He takes his seat and thanks for the food in a breathe. Haru picked up on of the plates and takes it into the other room where Nagisa resided. Within five minutes, Rei was halfway done as Haru walked out with an empty plate. He set it aside and finally sat down to his own plate and started to eat. The silence loomed over the two in the wee morning hours for what seemed like an hour.

"Nagisa is mad at me too." Haru bluntly points out. Rei is a little surprised to hear this either way.

"He is?" Rei had to understand what was going on.

"He said I should've stopped you or something. He'll get over it though. He doesn't really get mad at me anyway." Haru popped some rice into his mouth.

"I-I'm sorry." Rei couldn't help but say.

"Get some sleep. I'll see you at 8." Haru told Rei, like a concerned parent. Rei listened and cleaned up the plates he had. Once he was done, Haru had finished up. Rei made room for him to clean his dishes and didn't know how to ask where he should sleep while they are here.

"There are two other room to the right. Choose whatever one you want to sleep in." commented Haru as if he read the blue-haired man's mind.

"Thank you, Haruka-senpai. Goodnight." Rei started to walk away when a slight noise stopped him.

"Night, Rei." 

 

\--------------------------------

 

8am could've not come any sooner. The bright rays of sunshine was like death rays to Rei as he hid under the covers more. He would've stayed like the all morning, but he convinced himself that swimming with Haru today was important. Not only for helping him be better while they were on tour, but to maybe even bond with his senpai.

By ten minutes past eight, Rei emerges with swim suit in hand (thank goodness nostalgia told him to bring a swimsuit) goggles around his neck, and a towel under his arm. Haru didn't leave him waiting. The raven-haired man was standing by the door wearing only his swimsuit. Nothing else on hand or foot.

"S-Should I be in my swim suit?" Rei questioned.

"Do what you want." was all Haru told him and Rei couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

 

\------------------------------

 

The hotel pool was on the 5th floor and at this time in the morning, it was completely empty. Granted, Haru has the privilege to use it not only being with a star like Nagisa on tour, but because Fujisaki likes to inform the hotel of his Olympic career. Rei almost forgot that Haru swim professionally. That he and Rin both swim professionally. He questions how Haru lives this kind of harsh life style, but it doesn't seem to bother the free style swimmer.

Immediately as the entered the pool area, Haru sprinted and dove into the pool.

"Haruka-senapi, I don't think this pool allows you to dive in it!" Rei called out. He now knew how Makoto feels, though with paling around with Nagisa for those years as well, he actually could relate. 

Rei was about to slide himself in when he caught a glimpse of Haru swimming and yet again, he was captivated. The fluid motion of his legs, the curve of his arms, the speed he could fly across the pool- Rei got shivers. He can see that Haru has even improved, though he was fabulous in the first place. Lost for the last 10 minutes, Haru took wind of Rei staring. He stopped on the edge where Rei is.

"I brought you here to swim." He told Rei slightly annoyed.

"Oh, sorry! Its just…" Rei didn't know what he was so hesitant for.

"Get in the water." demanded Haru. Rei blinked surprised and listened to the firm command. 

"You're here now. You can leave, or you could stay and swim." Haru flat out said.

"Are you doing your analogies again to try to help me, Haruka-senpai?" Rei squinted seeming to understand what was going on.

"I'm only trying to help." Haru muttered, looking away to the water. Rei took in what Haru was trying to tell him.

"Okay. I'm in the pool." He played along. "And I know getting out would be easier, but I'd be cold and dripping wet. However, I want to swim. I haven't in a while….so I'm out of practice?" Rei tried to follow the analogy. Haru looked back to Rei, his eyes sparkling at him understanding his words. He hummed and quickly, a smile flashed onto his face.

"Right. And you practice hard, you'll get it. But it's not only that. You have to let the water help you too." Haru continued on as he flatten his hand on the tip of the pool water. "Feel it, listen to it, understand what the water can do and what it wants."

"Haruka-senpai, this is getting a little more complicated to understand." Rei sighed.

"Do your butterfly." Haru then requested. Rei seemed unsure, but did it. From his side of the pool, to the other end, to the same end again, he was able to do it with ease. He stopped to hear what Haru had to say next.

"Do free style." Rei gulped, he hadn't practiced that in a while, but he was still sure he could pull it off. From his side, to the other, to his end again, it was slower and he ended up 5 feet away from where he started. He looked at Haru yet again.

"That was a little harder for you, wasn't it?" he asked. Rei confirmed his thoughts with a nod.

"I bet if you did it again, it'll be better." And Rei didn't seem to think that was very illogical, so he did it again. 

And Haru was right. He was a littler faster, swam a little straighter, and made it to the end noticing the better round. He beamed at Haru, who was smiling back. 

"I think I get it now." Rei admitted. Haru hummed in satisfaction. 

"And if you don't mind, I think I'm going to keep swimming." Rei smirked and kicked off the side of the pool. Haru watched, proud his words got through, and joined in after.

 

\------------------------------------------

 

It was about an hour or so into swimmer laps together when something caught Rei's eye. Something bright yellow and black with pink strips. Once he hit the wall, he looked up to see what, or rather who it was.

Right by the entrance was the one and only Nagisa, dressed in his old swim suit that still fit him pretty well. He shyed towards the door, trying to be out of sight as possible. His pink eyes noticed he'd been spotted and he hid against one of the pillars inside the area.

Rei was about to approach Haru, but luckily was swimmer towards him already. He stopped and stood by Rei, curious as to his uncomfortable state. Rei pointed to the pillars and all made sense.

"Nagisa." Haru called out. Moments later, the blonde crept around the pillars and made no eye contact.

"Is everything alright, Nagisa-kun?" Rei added. He wanted to express his concern to see where that got things.

"I…" Nagisa began. "I saw you guys were gone….and I wanted to swim too….with Haru-chan…. "

It clicked to Rei what Nagisa was getting at, so he walked his way to the side of the pool and pulled himself out. He grabbed the towel he'd brought and dried off his hair. Wrapping the damp towel around his neck, he turns to Haru, in the same spot in the pool.

"Thank you again, Haruka-senpai. I hope we can do this again sometime."

Haru stared at Rei and nodded. That was Rei's cue to leave the two alone, though he noticed a sadden look to Nagisa's face. Was he sad he was leaving? Or feeling bad that he wanted him gone? Rei didn't bother focusing on it. For now, he had a game plan to shower, eat, and research on how he could better himself and be more useful to Nagisa.

Meanwhile, back at the pool Nagisa watched Rei leave all the way til he turned the corner to take the elevator back to the room. Even moments after he still watched. A splash snapped Nagisa out of his thoughts and he looked over to Haru swimming laps yet again. He pouted and sighed as he made his way to the side of the pool, awaiting Haru's return to the side. 

Once he did, he noticed Nagisa sitting on the edge watching him and stopped his laps. He shook his head release rain drops from his hair when Nagisa finally started to speak.

"Haru-chan I….I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier." He waited anxiously for Haru's response.

"Whatever."

"Its just that-"

"I know." and Nagisa kept quiet.

"Are you stressed that Rei is here?" Haru finally asked. Nagisa only shrugged and looked down into the pool.

"Its getting colder again." Nagisa stated rather calmly, but the meaning behind went a little deeper. "I just feel so…upset. I mean, yesterday was a good day. I was surprised even. But then on stage when it was only me against the crowd, all I could think was "What do I do?" or "How do I fix this?" or even "How do I play it off so everyone isn't mad anymore?". But…" and he needed a moment to think of the next thing he wanted to say.

"When Rei-chan popped up on stage, he gave me this wave of relief that I wasn't alone any more and that everything was going to be okay. I haven't felt like that around him since…two years ago? And it helped me randomly think of something to sing and it worked. But after it ended, and the crowd cheered, I had this overwhelming fear suddenly hit me. It was like feeling nervous times 100! Thats why I avoided you guys and went to the bathroom. I tried to calm myself down, but it got to a point where I ended up feeling really tired from it all." His eyes lowered more and his face turn sullen.

"Next thing I know, I see Rei-chan's face and I was punched with every raw feeling I've had towards him. I woke up kind of forgetting he even was here. Or that things happened between us and, I don't know. I just feel angry and confused and just-"

"Do you want Rei here?" Haru interjected. Nagisa brushed his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know. I mean, its sweet of him to try and help out and all, but he gets in my face and all I want to do is punch him, but I'm still in shock he is even here. I want to be able to talk to him and hang around him like before, but…" a groan escape his lips and he fall back on the tiles floor.

"I don't even really know Rei-chan. I don't know why he's back or what he plans to do or what he likes and I just can't stop thinking about it."

"Are you sure its only Rei bothering you?" Haru questioned and never got a response. He decided to try a different angle.

"Have you talked to your mom or sisters recently?" Nagisa sat up and rubbed his face trying to remember.

"I called my mom when we left….Tokyo." 

"…that was a while ago, Nagisa." Haru noted. Nagisa didn't comment again.

"Call her up."

"I can't talk to her right now."

"Do it soon at least. I'm sure she's worried."

"I know." and Nagisa softly smiled at Haru. "You're such a good parent, Haru-chan. Think you'll have kids?"

"I only expect to be an uncle to Makoto's kids." Haru responded.

"What about having kids with Mako-chan?" Nagisa winked. Haru only glared and drove back into the water. A bubble of laughter escaped from Nagisa.

"It's okay, Haru-chan! You and Mako-chan are already great parents towards me!" Nagisa seemed content enough to enter he water now, so he slide right in and set himself up to do his signature breast stroke. Splashing and swooshing sounds were the only ones left to be heard in the room now.  

 

**End Track 5**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the late update. I'll try and do better now that I remember whats going on in the story. And hopefully work won't be so much in the way again. I may make some grammatical changes later (I reread chapter 4 and my GOSH) so the story would at least read better. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> And, I always put this at the end that I'm on tumblr. Hit me up on kikaescoolio.tumblr.com. ALSO If you are interested, I'm working on a webcomic that is set to come out January of 2016. You can check out the promo comics and get more information here- anythinginc.tumblr.com (Yes. It will update regularly. Maybe this fic can help me practice.)
> 
> See you next time!


	6. Track 6- Hello Sun, Are you going to stay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey..." The blue haired man started. Nagisa looked up from his shirt into his eyes. He could see the young star was still panicking and continued "How about I take you somewhere."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me start off with AN APOLOGY OF A THOUSAND SUNS! I suck at regularly updating and keeping whatever word I speak. Please forgive me. I haven't died…not really. (Not going to lie, December I was working at my job 7 days a week). Not to mention I've been busy with webcomic related things (That updates at least).
> 
> I also wanted to say thank you so much for all your likes, kudos, and comments. It really inspires me to push through and continue more. I wanted to say thank you and that you all are fantastic people. You make the reigisa strong!
> 
> Again, I'm sorry for the wait, but here it is! Another chapter! Enjoy!

Throughout the rest of the day, Nagisa and Rei were no where near each other and both have taken notice to the other's distance. Rei decided to give Nagisa some space and to focus on the job he was filling in for. Though noting Nagisa's mirrored avoidance maneuver, Rei began to assume that maybe Nagisa didn't want anything to do with him after all.

Nagisa, on the other hand, was ignoring Rei for his own personal reasons. It really didn't have anything to do with Rei if he was quite honest. He just needed to spend sometime alone after his bonding with Haru in the pool. But Nagisa did take note at Rei ignoring him and he started to wonder if all that stuff Rei was saying about "wanting to be friends again" or "how he cares" was even the truth. It's easier to doubt the blue haired man now a days anyway, so he wouldn't put it past him.

Still, it hurt a bit. Kind of like what happened between them is happening all over again, but on a lower scale. He started to question if he did something wrong again. He did his best to shake the thoughts out, but it stuck like glue.

So, for the rest of the evening Nagisa stayed locked away in his designated room, Haru remained at the pool (and then the bath), and Rei was keeping himself busy with little outings of shopping and reading. The suite was a silent vacuum with a dark cloud looming above it and all three could sense it.

Each went their separate ways for food, each keep to themselves, and each went to bed, but only two stayed up with deep thoughts about how to go about life next.

\------------------------------------

 

The sun shines brighter than usually, though after the dull day yesterday it would come across more bright. Rei stirs a bit before admitting defeat and waking up. It's a little more later than he usually wakes up, which jumps him wide awake. He quickly gathers his things to start his day and rushes to the bathroom to shower. He noticed the door was closed, but that's not what stopped him in his tracks. It was a voice. A voice belonging to a certain blonde within the bathroom. And that voice was so beautiful, Rei just stands by the door and listens in.

 

_Nothing will stop my day_

_Today I'm gonna make it okay_

_Okay?_

_I will make things go my way_

_And my smile is what will stay_

 

_Ooooh_

_Stay on smile_

_Oooooh_

_Yup, its been a while_

 

Again, Rei is unfamiliar with the song. Was it some pop song he hasn't heard of or a new song of Nagisa's?

 

_I'll say what pops in my head_

_Like a bubble gum pop_

_Its there again_

 

_Hello sun_

_Are you going to stay?_

_I'd really like your company_

_As long as you don't leave me_

_Warm my heart with your lovely rays_

_Fill me up to get through the day_

 

And some humming filled in a section where Nagisa probably needed to think of more words to sing. Despite the creepiness of being huddled by the bathroom door, Rei couldn't budge. He wanted to listen more, hear more; he was addicted to this voice. He wanted to hear all Nagisa had to say, but wouldn't say out aloud. Then, the singing continued.

 

_I don't know how I feel_

_Is this for real_

_Are you lying again_

_Because I'll know how it will end_

 

and then when the shower silenced, it was like giving Nagisa a little solo. A spot light, it seemed, as he lightly continued the next part.

 

_Hello sun_

_Are you going to stay?_

_I'd really like your company_

_As long as you don't leave me_

_Warm my heart with your lovely rays_

_Fill me up to get through the day_

 

By the time Rei realized his mistake, it was too late and the door sung open, about to shoot out the young singer. However, their expression dropped. The two awkwardly stared at each other as all time froze over and both faces grew hot.

Rei gulped, about to talk is way into an excuse, but the bathroom door flew closed on his confused face. This left him in a stupor.

"N-Nagisa-kun…?"

No response.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I was rushing to the shower when I heard your voice- and I- I was just- I mean, your voice was so beautiful I just-" But Rei realized nothing he can say would make the situation less weird.

"I-I'll be getting away from the door now. S-Sorry." and he decided to hide away in his designated room until he deemed safe to come out.

\------------------------------------

 

After the morning incident, Nagisa further distanced himself from Rei and it destroyed him. Once he came out of the room, Haru told him that Nagisa went on ahead with Fujisaki to get the agenda started. As Haru and Rei made their way to where the others were, Rei rambled on about how unbeautiful he was this morning. Luckily, Haru was a trained listener, thanks to Makoto's morning talks on their way to high school, so he took in all of Rei's high pitched cries of his embarrassment.

Finally, they arrived and Rei quickly ran through the tasks today.

"An interview as well as a photo shoot are scheduled for today…" Rei muttered out loud trying to remember what else was there. The two entered where the events of today were happening and the first thing Rei notices is the sour look on Nagisa's tired face. But it wasn't an angry or grumpy kind of sour, it was uncomfortable. When they approached closer to listen into the interview, it made sense to Nagisa's facial features.

"Why won't you open up to me? I just wanted some inside scope of you." whined the interviewer.

"I swam on a swim team. That is my family. What more can I say?" The snappy sass from that comment even made Haru's eyes bulge out. Nagisa never had an attitude like that.

"What about hobbies? Love life? Interests?" As the interviewer listed on, it was easy to see that Nagisa was loosing it.

Suddenly, a loud slam on the wooden table between the two silenced the room, and Nagisa being the source of attention.

"CAN YOU STOP PESTERING ME ABOUT MY LIFE?!" he snapped. Gasps all over were heard, even coming from the interviewer. A couple seconds and Nagisa realized what he did. His features drop to guilt.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Let's…take a break." and the interviewer got up from her chair and slide her way out of the room. The blonde watched as water filled his sorry eyes.

"NAGISA!" Fujisaki shouted uncharacteristically. As he was stomping over, Nagisa fled from the chair he was sitting in and out of the room in tears. Fujisaki slowly stopped himself and exhaled.

"What is going on with that kid?" he mumbled. Rei, took this time to go after Nagisa. Once in the hallway, he ran like the track athlete he once was in search of the young star. However, neither realized the one big hallway in the building was a complete circle, so it wasn't long when something crashed into Rei, causing him to fall to the ground.

A soft groan escaped his mouth. His glasses had fallen onto the floor like the glasses cliches on cartoons. And like in the cartoons, he couldn't see as well, but when he peeked out his one eye he saw a mop of yellow gold on his chest. And he didn't need his eyes to feel the tight grip on his shirt, almost scratching his chest. Or even the wet droplets soaking his shirt.

Reaching around and finally grabbing his glasses, he slid them on to perfectly seeing Nagisa, clinging to his shirt trying not to drown in his tears. The sob was soft, yet still painful to hear. Rei sat up, so they weren't laying on the unknowingly dirty floor, and the blonde still held on.

Rei couldn't believe what was happening. Not only from the events of the interview, but the fact that Nagisa isn't running from him. That he is actually holding on to him. He hasn't held on to Rei since they were together, making his heart beat uncontrollably.

Upon hearing voices further down the hall, Rei sprung up and dragged Nagisa into the closest room and locking the door. He was sure the smaller male didn't need a crowd over him. At this point as Rei listened out to hear how close the voices were, he could feel the heavy breathes the blonde was trying to make to calm down. Unconsciously, Rei placed his hand on Nagisa's back and gently rubbed circles on it.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay." He spoke softly to the smaller one, hoping it would calm him down more. It sort of worked, but he could feel that Nagisa was still pretty tense.

"Hey..." The blue haired man started. Nagisa looked up from his shirt into his eyes. He could see the young star was still panicking and continued "How about I take you somewhere."

Nagisa stared up at him, squinting his eyes in confusion as to where they would go and that it's in the middle of the interview for the magizine.

"I promise it will help." The smile he presented was reassuring, though Nagisa hesitated for a moment. He then took one last deep breath and nodded.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Nagisa now sat on a cold bench in the park by some fountains. It was peaceful, he'll admit, but he didn't know why he was here. He still felt a little uneasy, but only because he didn't know what was in store for him. He still felt many things towards Rei, making all of it clump into an anxiety rubber band ball. He wanted to trust him, but he was still hurt. He likes that he is around, but he wants him to go away. He is excited he came back, but he wants to know the catch. He didn't know what to do.

"I'm back!"

He snapped out of his thoughts to look up at the voice in front of him. Rei now held two paper cups and a plastic bag. He must went to a local convenient store.

"Here. I got you some tea and also..." He handed the one cup to Nagisa and reached into the bag and pulled out a chocolate bar. "And I have some chocolate for you too. I heard that having some chocolate can relieve stress." And handed the bar to him.

Nagisa opens the bar, breaking it off into pieces, and nibbling at it while sipping the tea. He then stopped and sat there for a moment while Rei sat down and sipped his tea. The taller of the two noticed the hesitation Nagisa held.

"Is something wrong? I probably should've asked you want kind of tea you liked-"

"What are you doing?" Rei was taken aback. What does he mean by that?

"Huh?" was the only response he could get out.

"What are you doing?" Nagisa asked again. His tone was quiet and sounded tired. Rei couldn't understand.

"Uh, trying to make you feel better? You were overly exerted at the interview, I assume and-"

"NOT THAT!" the anger in his voice only worried Rei even more.

"Why did you come back?" the singer sternly spoke trying to get his question across. This left Rei scrambling for an answer.

"Well...I told you before. I want to make sure you are okay."

"But why? Why do you even care? What are you trying to get out of it?" Rei was speechless at all these sudden questions. His silence caused Nagisa to explain more.

"You left me. You left me and lost all contact with me and...it hurt. It really hurt, Rei-chan." He felt his sore eyes tear up again as he spilled out his heart.

"I always hoped you would come back, the first couple months at least; maybe even a little after... I always wondered why you left and I-I blamed myself for it. No matter what Haru-chan or Mako-chan said, I always blamed myself. Eventually, I doubted myself more, I felt like maybe no one ever really liked me. I freak out over little things that I'd never consider before. And…the whole time I was alone..." Tears started pouring down his cheeks as he kept his eyes away from Rei.

"These years have been more hard than anything ever in my life. I-I don't know how to deal with things anymore...and then you show up. Out of the blue, at the first concert."

The detail caught Rei's attention. "So, you did see me?"

"How could I not?! I know what you look like! I can spot you in a crowd in a split second!" He yelled back annoyed that Rei would be surprised. They linked eyes for crying out loud. "I saw you and...I couldn't believe it. I convinced myself that you were gone forever. And then I panicked on stage. I panicked and I didn't know why. I wanted to get away." He finally looked Rei straight into his eyes.

"You really hurt me and managed to freak me out so bad that I can't breathe or function without breaking down. So why are you still here trying to help if you are the problem to begin with?" He asked coldly. Rei never saw this side of Nagisa before and didn't know exactly what to say. Yes, he felt guilty for it all and had no idea what to do. Even with all the reading he has done on this, he was not prepared.

"Because...I'm trying to fix all I destroyed." He finally answered,gaining Nagisa's attention.

"Throughout the years, I wanted to contact you. But I never did because I knew I'd have to face this moment, with you angry and upset, which you have every right to be. You have every right to scream or kick or punch me if you wish." Rei now looked down to the ground.

"As I was walking the streets a couple weeks back, I passed a store and heard your music. I knew it was you before I even walked in to confirm my thoughts. And I was surprised. I never thought I'd see you and believed that you were finally over me. I knew then that I wanted to see you again. I thought we could reconnect, though I only predicted it would end badly. It was a 50/50 shot, but I still took it and discovered that I ruined your life. I hurt you so bad that it ruined certain aspects of your life and I never once thought of the consequences. Because I acted cowardly, you received all the negative after effects." He looked up to face Nagisa with his own tears held in his eyes.

"I am so sorry, Nagisa-kun. So sorry! I know I can't fix all that's happened and I can't change things in the past. So in other words, I can never make it up to you. I feel terrible. I-I'm probably the worst person you've ever met!" He had hot tears trailing his face now.

"But I want to help you as much as I can now so you can live happy again. I don't want you to be upset or in pain or stressed. I want to see your beautiful smile. I want you to live a very happy life because you deserve it! Your entire life- from the bullying in grade school, your middle school days, even dealing with your parents in high school, and then these past two years! You fought through it all and are sitting in front of me today. You are a very strong person that never gives up and I know somedays are harder than others, but you fight through it all. I want to help ensure that you smile more and frown less! I want to make sure I never hurt you ever again!" He stopped there to try and compose himself. He turned away to dry the loose tears. Nagisa had been staring the whole time, not showing much emotion in the beginning, but Rei can't see now the slightly hurt he expressed as he watch the other cry next to him.

"I-I understand if you don't want to rebuild the relationship between us. I understand if you hate me. Just...let me know what I can do to make sure I don't hurt you again. I promise I'll never hurt you again. Just please....if you want me go...I'll go...."he trailed off not knowing much more he could do. The two looked each other in the eyes for a good minute trying to read what they were thinking.

"Rei-chan..." Nagisa started. Rei prepared himself for the worst.

"...I don't hate you."

His eyes widened, making all the water in his eyes fall, at the statement.

"I never really hated you. I was angry and upset, of course. I still kind of am. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like all that has happened was your fault. It was more of a…domino effect and you were that piece that started it all. But...to have you here in front of me...it's surreal. A month ago, I never thought I'd see you again. So, what I'm saying is..." Nagisa paused and Rei awaited his next words with anticipation.

"I don't want you to go. It's…not the same...without Rei-chan..." He shifted his gaze as he trailed off. Rei managed to break out a soft smile.

"Thank you." these words surprised Nagisa. He looked back to the taller male to see how relieved and joyous he looked. Nagisa mirrored the look.

"So…you're here to make up for all you put me through, right?" Rei looked up to find the blonde staring at him for an answer. He nodded, wiping away a lone tear.

"So, starting now…can we be friends again?" Nagisa asked to reassure himself. To make sure this was actually happening.

"Of course." Rei replied. "We can be friends again." The repeated line to remind Rei that this is happening.

"Then…" and the blonde slyly smiled like he did back in their high school days. "It's offical! Rei-chan is back!" Nagisa announced to the world of the park. Rei chuckled seeing that Nagisa was slowly becoming himself once again. Though the small celebration was distracted when he then remembered they had drinks that probably lost all their warmth.

"I think your drink might've gotten cold..." Rei mentioned, feeling bad believing this was his fault.

"It's fine. I don't mind it. The tea was hot at first anyway." the blonde smiled and continued to sip it, breaking off another piece of chocolate to eat.

"Are they helping at all? The chocolate and tea?" Rei hoped they did.

"It helped a lot, actually. Rei-chan was smart in getting these." He beamed at him.

"Thank goodness." Rei sighed

"So..." Nagisa started " where else were you going to take me." He looked at Rei, leaving the blue-haired man pushing up his glasses with enthusiasm.

"Leave it to me."

\--------------------------------------------------

 

"Woooooah! This is a cute shop for lunch!" Nagisa awed at the little quaint coffee shop that was by the park they were just at.

"Yes, well, all you had to eat was chocolate, I assume, so I figured we could start with something to eat." Rei added on.

"Oh! Rei-chan look! They have all these cakes here!" pointing at the glass and smiling. The sweets made Rei cringe.

"Nagisa-kun, you're not getting sweets."

"Says who?" Nagisa looked into Rei's eyes with snark, but it's not like Rei is really in charge of him.

"…well you just shouldn't. At least get something nutritional." Rei pleaded.

"Hmmmm…" pondered the blonde. "Okay, I'll get some soba noodles as well then." Much to Rei's relief. Until-

"And ice cream, a parfait with three different kinds of berries, steak, curry, katsudon with-"

"Please stop." Rei groaned, making the small blonde chuckle.

"It's not like you're paying for it, Rei-chan." and when he didn't hear the other respond back, he looked at him surprised. Finally, Rei answered.

"I…I was planning to."

"Don't. Not today. I'll get you another time. For now, I have money so I can even pay for you if you want." the blonde smiled.

"You pay for me? That wouldn't be beautiful. I was the one who dragged you out here in the first place, therefore I am responsible for all purchases-"

"But you bought me tea and chocolate already."

"Yes, but-"

"Rei-chan, I got it covered. Besides…I wanted to thank you somehow. You know, for being here and doing your best and all…"

Rei's eyes widened and he accepted the comment with a push of his glasses and clearing his throat.

"V-Very well, Nagisa-kun."

"So pick what you'd like already." and Nagisa's smile to him was so genuine that his heart banged hard against his chest in a beat. A smile grew upon his face as well.

The two have been sitting down for a while eating the spread of food Nagisa ordered when something had been bothering Rei. He wasn't having a bad time or anything, not in the slightest, but he couldn't help but remember what happened a few hours ago. The pain in Nagisa's eyes when he glared down at the interviewer, the coarseness in his voice when he shouted, the tremble of his body as he let go of his emotions.

"Reiiii-chaaaan~"

Rei blinked as he snapped out of his thoughts. He looked to Nagisa staring in front of him concerned.

"You okay, Rei-chan?" Rei could hear the worry in his voice, so he quickly shook his head.

"No no. Everything is fine. It's just…I've been wondering…" Rei trailed off as Nagisa gently placed his drink down after sipping it. "About what happened during the interview-"

"AH!" Rei jumped back from the random loudness that urputed from Nagisa's mouth. Before he knew it, the blonde bolted across the shop to the very end to a chalk board of the wall. It welcomed guests to draw on it. The color dropped from Rei's face as he could only guess what madness Nagisa would draw and how big he would do it.

For five minutes, Nagisa sat over there and giggled at his chalk doodles. Rei caved and decided to see what Nagisa has done, though his smaller friend sensed he was approaching.

"Rei-chan! Rei-chan! Check it out!" and he happily presented a monstrous Iwatobi-chan, breathing fire flames and spewing mackerels in the background.

"What is this?" He had a feeling he probably shouldn't have asked.

"Ta-da! It's the Iwatobi-chan monster!" and he coughed to prepare his voice for a deeper tone to tell the wild story he just made up.

"One night, the lone Iwatobi-chan was fishing for some mackerel for dinner-"

"Why would it fish at night?" Rei interrupted. Nagisa gave him an annoyed pout in which Rei dropped his head and softly apologized. Nagisa continued.

"When suddenly they fell into the radiated sewer tunnel, in which he was trapped there for seven days. Then-" and Nagisa whipped his arms out wide and fast. " BAM! It exploded out of the sewers and attacked the town of Iwatobi, having mackerel fly out from the overly expanded pores on its body and having them rain on the town. But then-" And he pointed to 5 little stick figures.

"5 Brave heros emerge! They are the Splash Five! Can you see who they are?" And Rei took a closer look. It wasn't hard to tell that the five were their swim team plus Rin, despite stick figures being scratchy. A finger pointed to the first figure, gaining Rei's attention again.

"That one swimming in the mackerel is Haru-chan. He has the power to control and swim through mackerel. Over here is Mako-chan. I made Mako-chan all muscly and have cat powers since he really like cats. Rin-chan is shark boy. He uses his teeth to fight his enemies. And Rei-chan-" he pointed to the figure in the air.

"You're the beautiful butterfly. You usually do the finishing moves with your beauty ray you shine from your glasses. And you have butterfly wings!" Sparkles emerged from Rei's eyes as he was touched by how Nagisa made him a hero. He stopped and noted Nagisa never mentioned himself though.

"What about you?"

"Hm? Oh! I haven't decided. I can't think of anything…" he trailed off sounding a tad disappointed. Rei then grabbed a yellow piece of chalk and drew.

"How about you can be called "The Rock Hopper"? And you can have a powerful voice, since penguins are very vocal, like yourself. It could stun the enemy, helping the team attack together." Once Rei was done adding the last feature to Nagisa's character, he glanced over to find the most loving look. His eyes big and shining with excitement, his smile wider than he has ever seen. But just then a "pft" escaped Nagisa's throat, and he exploded into a fit of laughter. Unsure if he made the blonde happy or look really silly to the point where Nagisa couldn't hold back his laugher at him, Rei joined in lightly. He enjoyed the sound of that laugh

"Rei-chan you're so funny." Nagisa managed to say in between, but eventually calmed down.

"Thank you. I love that." and that loving look was back as the two were trapped in each other's gaze again. It didn't last too long, since Nagisa wanted to get a picture of the chalk drawing. Rei decided to do the same.

\-----------------------------------

 

Once they signed their names on their artwork on the board and finished eating, the two were on their way to their next destination. They didn't make it too far when Nagisa stopped.

"EHHHHH!!!" the sudden burst had Rei yelp higher than his voice should go. Hands then grabbed his face and directed it towards a movie theater.

"Did you know that was out?!" Nagisa practically screamed. Rei scanned the movie posters and couldn't see what the other saw, until-

"The Rat Life 2! I've been waiting for a sequel for so long!" Rei could see stars sparkling around Nagisa as he practically drooled over the movie. Then, a swift motion and a tug on the sleeve.

"Rei-chan…"

Rei gulped. "…yes, Nagisa-kun?"

"Will you see this movie with me?"

"B-But I haven't even seen the first one. As I've said before, I don't watch incomprehensible-" but he stopped mid sentence due the pleading inside those magenta iris.

"Okay. But you should fill me in on what happened in the first one." The grin upon the blonde's face cow;don't have gotten any bigger.

"Yay! Now, get ready. I'll brief you on what happened so you'll go into the movie knowing what to expect." Rei sighed as he let the smaller male drag him into the movies. 

\------------------------------------

 

"Come on, Rei-chan! This way!"cheered Nagisa, draging Rei along the movie aisle.

"But the movie doesn't even start yet!" Rei complained.

"Yeah, but we get first dibs to pick out a seat! This movie has been big and I know it'll get packed for sure!" Nagisa peaked inside the theatre first, spying to make sure the coast was clear for them to enter. Once he approved of the empty room, he pulled Rei in and they gaze upon the open seats. In no second later, Nagisa skipped up the steps laughing.

"Let's get the seats in the way back in the middle! It's the best spot!"

"Nagisa-kun, careful! You could trip or something." Rei called out, but of course it was ignored. Rei followed after him though and by the time he made it to the top, Nagisa claimed his seat.

"Right here." he patted the seat signaling where Rei should sit. After taking off his jacket and sitting in the seat Nagisa picked for him, Rei looked at the blank screen and had no idea what to do. He looked over to Nagisa, who was on his phone, and decided to check his phone too. The feeling was a tad awkward, but it bought them time. Rei checked if he received any messages and saw he had one from Haru questing where the two went. A soft giggle had Rei look away from the phone.

"Haru-chan is annoyed we left him at the studio." Nagisa stated getting a kick out of the situation.

"He messaged me as well." Rei added.

"Guess we should've told them, huh?"

"Maybe I should have told Fujisaki though-"

"No way, Rei-chan. He's a good guy, but can easily loose track of things."

"Well, now I'm told." Rei grumbled. Nagisa chuckled, but stopped noticing that people were piling into the room.

"See? I told you it would start filling up." Nagisa pointed out. Just then the previews started playing and Rei paid attention to them, as they were interesting to say the least. He'd glance at the blonde, who'd lightly sneer at his phone. Probably Haru scolding him or something.

"Haru-chan said "You better look over Nagisa. That's your job." imitated Nagisa, pointing his finger at Rei as though he was scolding him. Rei had to laugh to that. The boy was pretty on point with his Haru impression.

"Tell him I am." Rei replied back.

"I did. I told him you were doing a very good job." smiled Nagisa. Rei was in trance with what Nagisa said. He was doing a good job. Nagisa said he was doing a good job. He pushed up his glasses out of habit and cleared his voice.

"O-Of course. It's my job to do so." and the two were quiet again.

Suddenly, a rather tall man inched toward to center of the aisle in front of them and sat in front of Nagisa.

"Aw, now I can't put my feet on the seats." pouted the blonde, but the other had a different concern in mind.

"Can you see at all, Nagisa-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, sort of. I'm fine though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's fine." But Rei wasn't accepting the answer either way. He stood up and reached his hand out to Nagisa's.

"Please switch. I'm taller, so I can see over him." Debating for a moment, Nagisa finally caved and grabbed Rei's warm hand as he got up to switch.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Rei-chan?" Nagisa wanted to make sure.

"I should be. Given my height, it's not an issue at all." Nagisa ducked his head low and smiled.

"Thanks." he quietly spoke, but before Rei could respond, the theatre got dark and the shh's signed that the movie was about to begin. And as the movie played, both were content in their own world, watching and reacting to the movie when needed.

Rei glanced over to Nagisa every once in a while and noticed that he held onto his arms as they watched the film. He just realized that this whole time Nagisa didn't have his jacket and it was a chilly day. His long sleeved shirt wasn't going to help him when it grew colder outside tonight, as well as in the theatre.

"Nagisa-kun," Rei interrupted softly "Are you cold?"

It took a moment for Nagisa to register what he asked, but he shook his head. "No. I'm fine." and focused on the big screen again. About 30 minutes later, Nagisa's hands clasped onto his arms as he was hooked to the movie.

"Are you sure you're not cold?" Rei whispered.

"Rei-chan, I'm fine." Nagisa insisted, but Rei wasn't having it again. With out any warning, he picked up his jacket he had been holding in his lap and wrapped it over other's body. The blonde blinked in surprise and turned to Rei for answers, but Rei was now focused on the movie again. Looking down at the jacket now on him like a blanket, his smile grew and his sunk into the warmth he was given. Because in the end, it was a little cold. He ended missing a few minutes of the movie because all he could think about was what just happened now, but he was able to get back into what was happening in the movie.

They laughed when punch lines broke out, they gawked their mouths at the most dramatic parts, and before they knew it, the show ended. The lights slowly fade on and the audience began to leave after the applaud to the movie.

Nagisa and Rei got back onto their feet and Nagisa held Rei's jacket out. Silently, he took it back and the made their exit quietly.

Moments after walking back to their hotel, Nagisa broke the ice.

"Thank you again. For seeing the movie with me." Rei seemed to be in his own world, because he stumbled in his words.

"Oh, Uh- you're- you're welcome, Nagisa-kun,"

"Heh heh. That was so good!" He sighed pleased at the film.

"Yes. It was indeed."

"I'm not going to get over that one part though."

"Yeah."

"I was about to walk out of the theatre just done with the movie, you know? And I was so worried for my favorite characters too. But, it was a fun experience! I hope there will be another sequel!" Nagisa then slowed his pace and stopped, which caused Rei to stop.

"You…you'll come see it with me… right?" Nagisa looked back at him, eyes unsure. Rei's heart fluttered though at the offer.

"O-Of course! I'll go with you." Nagisa's felt an inner warmth he once felt before and smiled back at Rei.

"Thank you again. For today. It was fun." His voice grew little and he started moving his feet from his toes to heels.

"I'm glad." Rei smiled. "I had a lot of fun too."

The two remained silent, standing still on the side walk for a while until Rei coughed out of the awkwardness.

"We should head back now."

"Yeah. Though Haru-chan isn't going to be happy with us. He'll probably make us eat a giant mackerel whole!"

"I doubt Haruka-senpai would do that."

"I've been around Haru-chan a lot the last two years. I've seen what he is capable of. Like this one time-"

And as a new story was being told, another was being written into their minds as the two stroll back to their hotel with the star lights dancing upon them. 

 

**End Track 6**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! PROGRESS! They be friends again! 
> 
> Originally, this chapter was going to be a longer, but ending it here seemed like a better spot. I've got the next chapter all bulleted out and 20% written, so as long as I keep this mojo going it should be out eventually. Hopefully not in three 3 months again. I need to finish this story because I have more I want to do.
> 
> Fun fact- a lot of things like "The Rat Life" movie and the food Nagisa was going to get I got from drama cds. The food list was based off the drama track on the Rei and Nagisa duet cd when Rei ordered all the food instead of music. XD Good old drama cds.
> 
> Fun Fact 2- Remember when I mentioned this was slightly based off events…i must've predicted the future because OMG what.
> 
> If interested, hit me up on kikaescoolio.tumblr.com. And if you want to see what is consuming 75% of my life, check out my new webcomic, Anything Inc., at anythingincwebcomic.net and follow the tumblr, anythinginc.tumblr.com, for updates and more.
> 
> See you next water time!

**Author's Note:**

> So Rei is given a second chance. Let's see if he'll redeem himself or utterly fail. And let's see how Nagisa handles Rei trying to be in his life again. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I will try to have the second chapter out as soon as I can!
> 
> Random notes here- A handful of things I based off some real life experiences (so slightly based on a true story). I've also researched as much as I could to double check things. I'm slightly nervous because so far I've posted up funny stories and this is hard core angst stuff here. I tried to make sure my writing was more nice as well, so I hope I did okay.
> 
> Fun Fact- One inspiration for this story is a song from Owl City called 'Up All Night'. I really like this song and it was something I could honestly relate to. And thus, a fanfiction was made. (I debated whether to use those lyrics, but decided it was better to make up my own. That way its original at least.)
> 
> Also, I've been forgetting to add this at the end but I am on tumblr. My regular on is kikaescoolio.tumblr.com and I have an art one (which as fanart as well as original stuff) at kikadoodles.tumblr.com.


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